“Shiva Baby” Review
Rachel Sennott tries everything in her being to stay calm in “Shiva Baby,” a comedic exercise in stress that has been growing a massive following in the past few years.
What I love about cinema is how it has the power to emotionally sway an audience. Romance films can bring out the mushy side of yourself. Crime dramas make you realize how cold and harsh the world is. Science-fiction and fantasy can unlock the imagination you’re worried the cynical world has squeezed out of you. While emotional manipulation is a cornerstone of good filmmaking, I have a massive respect for films and shows that are capable of inducing anxiety including the landmark series “The Bear” and films like “Beau is Afraid” by Ari Aster and “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems” by the Safdie Brothers.
In this genre that could be seen as a form of masochism, a new standout has rapidly become popular amongst my fellow youthful peers. With an intense premise, dedicated performances and excellent comedic voices in front of and behind the camera, “Shiva Baby” deserves the popularity it has attained and the increased attention it will inevitably receive.
Danielle (Rachel Sennott) is a college senior who is on the brink of graduating and really has no idea what she’s going to do. Whenever anyone in her family asks what her major is, she has a hard time explaining it. From what I gathered, it’s something related to gender studies and feminism as a lens through which to focus on media. In the meantime, Danielle earns money by having sugar daddy clients. When Danielle and her family attend a shiva observance, her already stressful day is made even more chaotic when her ex-girlfriend Maya (Molly Gordon) and her sugar daddy Max (Danny Deferrari) are both in attendance, resulting in an experience that feels like a realistic bad dream.
Watching “Shiva Baby” is an uncomfortable experience. So why do I like it and why is it funny? Well, the brilliance of the film and stories like it is that it understands the basis of comedy. That it all comes from some form of misery. So, if the situation the characters are in is more uncomfortable and if the comedic writing compliments this, the resulting interactions can put you in a place where you use laughter as a defense mechanism. This might seem overly analytical but if it makes you laugh, it’s doing something right.
Director Emma Seligman’s (Far Right) powerful direction and hilarious script make sure that “Shiva Baby” is always eventful in its brisk one hour and 17 minute running time.
There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who can watch something like the “Scott’s Tots” episode of “The Office” and laugh their ass off and those who can’t watch it because they’re weak. Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh. After all, cringe-inducing comedy is not for everyone. But if that’s your jam, then “Shiva Baby” is a riveting watch and at the heart of it is the amazing script by Emma Seligman, the film’s director, and the captivating performance from Rachel Sennott.
Sennott has become something of a big name recently with her work in “Shiva Baby,” “Bodies Bodies Bodies” and her upcoming film “Bottoms” garnering her much deserved praise. In this film, she does a marvelous job playing someone who is dealing with an onslaught of stress. Have you ever been at a family gathering and everyone wants to know what you’re up to and they ask a lot of questions with some being well-meaning and others feeling out-of-touch? Of course you have, most people have experienced that. Now imagine the stress of that dialed up to eleven and also throw in many of your family members not understanding your bisexuality, your college major, career prospects and just not leaving you the hell alone and you have a fairly strong concept of what Danielle is going through.
Further complicating Danielle’s existence is the presence of Maya and Max at the same location. Everyone is so impressed with Maya’s acceptance into law school and Danielle’s mom is dead-set on making sure Danielle doesn’t bring up her past relationship with Maya. As for Max, Danielle learns way too much about his life and that tension and embarrassment is passed onto the audience.
Not only is Max revealed to be married to a shiksa (a word for a non-Jewish woman) and they have an 18-month-old daughter, but he’s honestly a pathetic creep as the audience learns more about him. First of all, he probably has no job since his wife Kim (Dianna Agron) is the breadwinner of the family (not that it matters if the wife makes more money than the husband) and she appears to be funding his lifestyle which means she’s unknowingly fueling his life as a sugar daddy. He doesn’t appear to be bringing anything to the relationship since all he does is go to restaurants with his friends as a “foodie” and clearly isn’t a stay-at-home dad since he has the time to be a sugar daddy. Also, not to be overtly negative, but being a foodie isn’t a job. Being a chef, a food writer, a restaurant critic or a food vlogger, those are real jobs. I know this isn’t a big issue but it’s important that you know this.
So why does Danielle do this? Why does she hang around creeps like Max for money even though her parents have been financially supporting her all throughout college. In one of the film's more poignant scenes, she likes the feeling of power it gives her. Max may be paying but she has all the control in this dynamic and, when you see how helpless she feels when she’s with her family, it’s honestly fascinating.
With this disorderly triangle present at the shiva, along with a plethora of talented actors like Polly Draper, Fred Melamed and Jackie Hoffman, this whole event is a powder keg of uncomfortable humor that Seligman is incredibly skilled at utilizing. To convey the feeling of claustrophobia, Seligman and director of photography Maria Rusche use a lot of shallow focus lenses, at one point having the focal length so high that Danielle’s face goes from blurry to clear when she’s surrounded by so much stress.
I’m pretty sure that the vast majority of this film was shot with hand-held camera rigs. With so much movement, you feel trapped with Danielle in this environment which is so confining that your only option is to laugh or have a massive mental breakdown. But does this mean that “Shiva Baby” is funny? Yes because it’s making me laugh. The film’s ending alone had me in stitches with a car trip taking all of the characters from the shiva. Without giving anything away, I haven’t seen a more uncomfortable and more hilarious ride in a car since Christopher Walken drove Diane Keaton and Woody Allen to the airport in “Annie Hall.”
Everything about “Shiva Baby” should be inspirational to filmmakers and film lovers everywhere. The film started off as a thesis short from Seligman and Sennott when they were studying at NYU, then was remade into this feature for just $200,000 which is absolutely nothing in the world of filmmaking. But with a limited setting, smart writing and complete dedication, everyone involved made a hell of a film.
“Shiva Baby” was then supposed to be screened on the 2020 festival circuit, notably at South by Southwest, until a little thing called COVID-19 happened which shut down the film’s chances of getting that high of an audience. However, following a promising online run at the year’s digital Toronto International Film Festival, being picked up by streamers MUBI and MAX in 2021 and winning the John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards, this film has gained a life that is the stuff of dreams despite overwhelming obstacles. Now, later this month, Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott have collaborated once again for “Bottoms” which will be directed and cowritten by Seligman, star Sennott (who cowrote the script) alongside her friend and fellow comedian Ayo Edebiri and will have been made for a budget of $11 million. If “Shiva Baby” is any indication, we should probably expect “Bottoms” to leave just as big of a comedic and cultural splash.
