Shiva Baby

Shiva Baby is a great little comedy and incredibly self-assured for being the feature length debut of filmmaker Emma Seligman.

Shiva Baby is about how the tumultuous life of protagonist Danielle comes to a head at a Jewish funeral she attends. Danielle’s parents encourage her to lie about her degree and job prospects. These lies are put t the test when numerous relatives and friends accost her about her dating life, weight and future. Danielle’s former friend/enemy/ex Maya is also attending the service. The main drama for Danielle however, is the surprise arrival of Max. Max is Danielle’s secret sugar daddy so that’s awkward. More awkward still is when Max’s wife and child show up when Danielle was unaware he had either.

This is a film with a great sense of comedic timing. I wish that was common enough in comedy movies to not be worth mentioning but here we are. But we’re not talking about movies that don’t have comic timing, we’re talking about Shiva Baby which does. The jokes land in this movie. The control over the humour and the punchlines is exceptional. Some of the scenes drum up tension to a level that it almost feels like a horror movie before punctuating the tension with a joke. It’s brilliant.

A great cast. helps further with these frequent punchlines. The standout is of course, lead actress Rachel Sennott. But every other character in the film is also played by someone who understands their role and how to make it funny. Chief among these supporting characters would be Molly Gordon as Maya. This actress and character turned passive aggression into a comedic art form. Also, Jackie Hoffman is there and she’s (always) exceptional.

On the subject of Maya, let’s talk about the queer stuff. There was actually more than I was expecting. I expected Danielle’s relationship with women to be mentioned but not focused on given the emphasis on her sugar baby relationship. I was wrong. Danielle and Maya have a very complicated, somewhat ongoing relationship. By this, I mean they argue and then make out at one point. I’m admittedly biased because I watched the movie for queer reasons, but I thought the way they depicted Danielle and Maya’s relationship was really brilliant. Through often small but important moments, the film depicts this relationship as complicated, full of history and the the source of a lot of conflicting emotions for both characters.

Shiva Baby is a short, funny and well done film. Writer/director Emma Seligman knows her point of view and how to land a joke. A great lead performance from Rachel Sennott and a host of equally great supporting characters. assist in making Seligman’s writing sing. My one critique of the film is that it ends a little abruptly but that’s just because I wanted to keep spending time with these characters and learn how all of their conflicts shake out.

Overall rating: 8/10

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