'Armageddon Time' tackles Jewish assimilation and race relations

This piece contains spoilers.

(JTA) – At the fancy private school where he has just started his first day, Jewish sixth-grader Paul Graff (Banks Repata) is asked by a major donor what his last name means. Sheepishly, he admits that it was shortened from the longer family name - one that ends in "-stein." The donor who asks him about it, sneering at his name, turns out to be none other than Fred Trump (John Diehl).

The scene, filled with quiet menace, is a defining moment in "Armageddon Time," a new dramatic film from acclaimed Jewish writer-director James Gray (whose other films include "Ad As...