Shiva Baby (2020)

Jack and I enjoyed this cringey comedy about a young woman, Danielle, who runs into her sugar daddy Max at a Jewish funeral reception. Danielle cannot stop lying to everyone, her relentless parents overshare and pick at her, and some viewers may not be able to stand it, but we laughed a lot. 

Rachel Sennott is terrific as the awkward Danielle, as are Polly Draper and Fred Melamed as her pushy parents. Molly Gordon has some good scenes as Maya and Danny Deferrari plays Max. Let me just say that I found it confusing that Max is wearing glasses when they're having sex in the opening scene, and no glasses at the shiva. I also thought, for a moment when we first see him without glasses, that it was the actor Jay Duplass, and then thought I would've liked to see Duplass in the role. But Deferrari is fine. Deborah Offner has a funny featured role as one of the gossipy shiva ladies. I always like her, and not only because we were in the same NYC elementary school class many moons ago (we have completely lost touch, though).

Director/writer Emma Seligman fleshed out her seven minute long 2018 short of the same name (nominated for a South by Southwest Grand Jury Award) into this, her first feature, which is still only 78 minutes long. I found the short on Vimeo. In it, we see Max's face better at the beginning so there's no question as to who it is at the shiva. Also in the short, Danielle's father is played by Ted Seligman, father of the director.

An interesting trivia item is that actress Dianna Agron, whose character is referred to several times as a shiksa (non-Jewish woman) is Jewish, while Sennott, Draper, and Deferrari are not. Hey, it's called acting.

This one racked up some 2020 nominations and wins and came out streaming and in theatres this spring.

Ariel Marx's eerie soundtrack consists of mostly plucked violin, viola, and cello, mixed with synthesizer. The entire score is available on her website as well as Apple Music (and probably more). One track is called Anxiety Attack. and the whole album could be unsettling in its creativity.

Draper was last blogged for Obvious Child (in which she played a much kinder mother), Melamed for Together Together, and Offner for The Boy Downstairs. We have been enjoying the series Call Your Mother, in which Sennott has a supporting role, and this is her second feature. Gordon has not been in these pages yet, but had roles in Animal Kingdom, Booksmart, and Good Boys, among others. Deferrari has acted in Private Life and more. Agron's long resumé includes 74 episodes of Glee as Quinn and five of Heroes. Marx has scored dozens of shorts and eight features, including this one.

 

Rotten Tomatoes' critics have brought this baby up to a 98% average, while its audiences aren't so familial at 76.

We rented it on iTunes June 8 because Chris recommended it to us and we're glad we did.