Guns & Moses

Directed by Salvador Litvak, Guns & Moses is a gritty action-thriller about a peaceful small-town rabbi who is thrust into a deadly investigation after a violent attack targets his community. Inspired by real events, the film blends noir suspense with timely themes of faith, justice, and self-defense, offering a unique take on the rise of an unlikely hero.

Rabbi Mo Zaltzman (Mark Feuerstein) is a respected spiritual leader in the quiet, desert town of High Desert, California. He lives with his wife Hindy and their five children while serving a tight-knit Jewish community at the High Desert Jewish Center. The town gathers for the synagogue’s annual fundraising gala, where solar energy entrepreneur Alan Rosner (Dermot Mulroney) is being honored. As Alan takes the stage to announce a $2 million donation to the synagogue, a sniper opens fire on the crowd, killing and wounding multiple attendees. The town is shaken, and Rosner’s best friend, Mayor Donovan Kirk (Neal McDonough), denounces antisemitism and vows justice.

Local police quickly zero in on a suspect: Clay Gibbons, a troubled young man with ties to a white supremacist group. Head of Rosner’s security detail, Brenda Navarro (Gabrielle Ruiz), remembers seeing Gibbons earlier in the day at the center making disturbing gestures. When Clay’s house is searched, an AR-15 rifle is found in his bedroom. It appears to be an open-and-shut case, but Rabbi Mo is unconvinced. He remembers the previous encounter with Clay at the center, where he offered Clay a cookie and introduced him to Holocaust survivor Mr. Fassbinder (Christopher Lloyd). Mo recalls that Clay was visibly moved by the meeting, sparking doubts about his guilt.

Mark Feuerstein as Rabbi Mo Zaltzman faces off with Mayor Kirk (Neal McDonough) and law enforcement in a pivotal investigation scene set at a solar energy office in Guns & Moses.

“…an unlikely hero…driven by faith, justice, and self-defense.”

Despite pressure from law enforcement, public opinion, and even resistance from his own family, Rabbi Mo launches his own investigation to exonerate Gibbons. He interviews Alan’s mysterious Israeli wife, Liat; his embittered brother, Jeff; and Alan’s professional rival, the eco-activist Sid Barofsky. Mo’s persistence makes him a target, but he remains committed to uncovering the truth. Meanwhile, his friend and synagogue security guard Brenda urges him to take up firearms training, but Mo firmly refuses, stating, “I’m not a gun guy.” His spiritual convictions and thirst for justice drive him forward—alone, outmatched, and hunted.

Born from the tragic event of the 2019 Poway Synagogue shooting, filmmaker Salvador Litvak shifted from his reflective films about Jewish culture to take on the hard, gritty thriller in Guns & Moses. He reflects, “I did not grow up around guns. Like many American Jews, I didn’t consider the Second Amendment to be very important. As an adult, however, I became an Orthodox Jew – which is to say a visible Jew – and I grew increasingly aware of the danger to our community. So, like Rabbi Mo, I stepped up and became a guardian. I hope that our movie will inspire others to do the same and, having hardened our perimeter, I pray we’ll never be put to the test.” He says Guns & Moses is his Chinatown noir, as more greedier corporate interests are playing in the background.