Oy to the World! 2025 Movie Review
High school is the one place that I would never like to return to. It’s a reminder of the worst parts of life – rivalry, drama, embarrassment, and never letting go of the past and meddling mothers. Nikki and Jake want nothing to do with each other and haven’t really spoken in years. But queue a pipe issue, and what you’ve got is a movie about two non-friends finding their way back to each other.
Nikki and Jake started being rivals in the ninth grade, and that is when their friendship ended. They’ve stopped being friends, and this whole situation has led them to having to realize who they are and realize that both of them need to loosen up a bit.
As adults, Nikki is boring, and Jake is fun. Both of them being young, they used to compete over everything. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t a competition. It didn’t matter what was happening. All that mattered to them was beating out the other one. In high school, I would say that this is about crushing on each other, but I am, and I’m old, and I remember when we used to slap each other as a sign of liking each other.
Jake is living in New York and is an eternal bachelor. He doesn’t want to head home, but he does when he finds his Grandma got hurt. Nikki still lives in town and works at her father’s church as the choir director. Them having to see each other – not high on their list – but they don’t have a choice. Especially when Jake’s Grandma manipulates him into staying in town to take over the choir.
The synagogue has some damage, and it needs a lot of repairs. The families end up sharing the church, and that means that their kids’ concerts would happen at the same time. These two are forced to work together, and it’s kinda sweet. They may have a different way of looking at things – but maybe it’s that difference that allows them to balance each other out.
As they combine choirs, the two have to learn from each other. They may be exact opposites, but it’s that which balances them out. Never mind the fact that everything that their families are trying to set them up at every turn.
The families coming together enable the mothers and the grandmothers to find ways to keep pushing them together. The thing is that it doesn’t feel like they need a lot of pushing.
It’s a reminder that, regardless of religious background or meddling mothers, you can find a common ground. Jake and Nikki finding their way back to being the best of friends and falling in love is on them. Meddling Mamas and Grandmothers, mind your business.
What killed me, though, was that Jake and Nikki were faced with the biggest of decisions, and I started crying my eyes out as they had to face it. Jake had the chance to meet with a representative from the record label. He told her if she just said stay, he would.
But she knew that she had to let him go. I really respected that Nikki, as well as Jake’s Grandma, were behind him, supporting him in leaving. I think all too often in movies, we’re having to have some big moment that is an argument, and here we’re having a moment that is about love. Jake and Nikki have had their worst moments, but they still support each other. The two of them find peace in each other.
The highlight of the movie was the final performance. Yes, the performance was great. However, it was the fact that Nikki and Jake had both found their path. The way that in the end that they both showed up for each other and found love in each other’s presence and arms.
