Review: Shiva Baby
Tuesday, April 6, 2021 at 8:48PM by Ben Miller
Part cringe-comedy nightmare dripping with passive aggressiveness and part look at the complexity of modern sexuality and relationships, director Emma Seligman's Shiva Baby shows a unique perspective on attending a party from hell. Rachel Sennott stars as Danielle, a college senior who starts her day having sex with her sugar daddy Max (Danny Deferarri) before heading off to a shiva with her parents Joel and Debbie (Fred Melamed and Polly Draper). Danielle is a college senior with no real prospects after graduation and she knows this will be a frequent topic of conversation among the party-goers. She trudges on, but sees Maya (Molly Gordon), her high school girlfriend as the belle of the ball being lauded over among the many guests.
Debbie wants Danielle to focus on her future and uses the party as an excuse to try to get her a job. One of those outlets is Max, who used to work with Joel. Max and Danielle play dumb and attempt to assuage any suspicions, but things get infinitely more complicated when Max's wife Kim (Dianna Agron) shows up...
The comedy alternates between suffocating and patronizing conversations and Danielle's attempts to find solace in this endless maze of a house. Maya hovers around Danielle bringing a little romantic comedy respite especially in one minor break from the festivities. When returning to the claustrophobic house, the minimalist score ticks and twangs to unsettle the viewer and Danielle ever the more.
Sennott's frenetic performance guides everything. She fidgets enough to show Danielle's discomfort, but not enough to turn it into a tick. Her mind is scattered, but she is not ashamed. She shows no regret or remorse for her education, and more importantly her sexuality. The older people play off her bisexuality as "experimenting" while Danielle plows forward without the expositional blowup. Sennott does not play Danielle as trying to get through the shiva, but more of a life she is trying to endure.
Gordon makes a fun romantic foil to Sennott, as someone who knows exactly what she wants in life and how to go about getting it. Her warmth and likeability play in stark contrast to most other party guests. Deferarri expertly balances a level of sleaze with adult respectability. Max could have devolved into a stock villain very easily and Deferarri keeps enough under the surface to avoid questioning his motives. Agron performs the same balancing act. It would have been easy to reduce this wife to a steely ice queen, but Agron complicates her enough to forgo that assumption. Or at least she plants enough seeds that you're left wondering about her.
Polly Draper steals the show, swinging between the stereotypical judgey mother and an understanding shoulder to cry on. She is simultaneously frustrating, loving, horny and relaxed as a woman who just wants her daughter to succeed. Melamed, playing the warmer parent, plays off Draper extremely well.
Shiva Baby shows great promise for Seligman and Sennott and at just 77 minutes, the film tightly navigates the world of expectations and human growth. Both the director and star are talents to keep on eye on. B+
Shiva Baby is currently available in select theaters and on-demand
Reader Comments (4)
I really liked this one and it is the epitome of an ensemble. Everybody working perfectly at their very specific roles.
You had me at Polly Draper. She's like the TV version of whatever happened to Debra Winger.
Dave -- i always wonder why hollywood didn't do more with her but maybe it was her choice? she raised two now popular actors (Nat & Alex Wolff) so maybe motherhood took prominence. Or maybe Hollywood just didn't know what to make of her (or both). But she's ALWAYS good.
The most quotable film of last year's TIFF and I expect it to remain that way for 2021. I laughed SO HARD for SO LONG and loved every single second-hand-cringe moment.