'Shiva Baby' Review: A Comedy With Bite
Written by Aubrey Benmark
Molly Gordon as Maya. (Utopia)
Rachel Sennott as Danielle and Polly Draper as Debbie. (Utopia)
Diana Agron as Kim and Danny Deferrari as Max. (Utopia)
The tension is wound tighter than an egg timer in Emma Seligman’s debut feature film Shiva Baby, based on her short film of the same name. While attending a Jewish funeral gathering with her parents, a young woman fretfully attempts to maintain self-control and keep the truth from being exposed when she encounters her ex-girlfriend and current sugar daddy.
“What’s my sound bite again?” Danielle (Rachel Sennott) asks her parents before entering the suburban home where the shiva is already underway for a family friend. She wants to make sure they’re all on the same page when inquisitive minds, or simply meddlesome relatives, ask about her professional prospects after college. Danielle’s meager achievements fall far below expectations, so they concoct a vague lie to save face, a tactic she is not unfamiliar with. Her quarrelsome parents Debbie (Polly Draper) and Joel (Fred Melamed) have no idea their daughter is a sugar baby, a young woman who offers attention and sexual favors to older men for money. Danielle just came from a rendezvous with Max (Danny Deferrari), her primary source of income, unbeknownst to her as a former employee of her father.
As they head into the shiva, Danielle spots Maya (Molly Gordon), her childhood bestie and former girlfriend with whom she still has explosive chemistry and unresolved tension. Debbie instructs Danielle, “No funny business with Maya,” an unnecessary line her daughter is bound to cross. Once inside, Danielle is further harried by stiff small talk, prying questions, and contentious conversations with Maya, all before she can make a plate at the buffet table. Almost every woman at the party comments on her weight, more concerned than complimentary, with one acquaintance flat-out suggesting Danielle has an eating disorder. Her mother quips, “You look like Gwenyth Paltrow on food stamps, and not in a good way.” As if there weren’t enough anxiety-inducing interactions on the menu, enter Max, the sugar daddy with his own secrets to hide, soon joined by his gorgeous and successful wife Kim (Dianna Agron) and their infant daughter. Too stressed to eat, Danielle blunders from room to room trying not to cause a scene, but she often fails with amusing and painfully awkward results.
The ensemble cast offers superb character work, with Rachel Sennott delivering a stand-out performance. Much of the comedy and drama hinges on her facial expressions alone. The film’s darkly comedic tone is accentuated by a discordant string-laden musical score more evocative of horror or psycho thrillers, revealing Danielle’s inner struggles and heightening the tensity of an ordinarily somber occasion. The score is coupled with tight close-ups and handheld camerawork that only add to the sense of claustrophobia. As a result, the audience is given an obtrusive view, as if they were another mourner at the shiva, gawking as the drama unfolds.
Director: Emma Seligman
Running Time: 77 minutes
Available: on VOD and in select theaters
