Danielle must deal with hassling family members, ex-girlfriends, her sugar daddy, and her own teenage angst whilst at a Jewish Shiva.
Anxiety, claustrophobia, jealousy, bisexuality, and lust are just some of the themes that are explored in Shiva Baby – this teenage life is a tad different to the one I experienced. Shiva Baby does a great job of representing this teenage angst, the framing perfectly intensifies the claustrophobic feel that Danielle (Rachael Sennott) is experiencing, zooming in on her face during her moments of confine.
There is also an incredibly tense atmosphere you feel could explode at any minute. The intense string instruments used for the score adds to that anxiety; high pitched and off-key notes to darken the mood and the mind, it created a sort of psychological horror vibe, almost a parody with the eerie almost humorous character movements at times. Its portrayal of Jewish people was also very well done; this family are funny, incredibly blunt, and nosey, prying into everyone’s business – there is no such thing as boundaries at a party like this.
It is a unique film, and your hat must go off to Emma Seligman (in her feature film debut) for creating an experimental portrayal of all these emotions that can be enjoyed by the masses. Seligman also wrote the screenplay and created the short film that it was based off – a real jack of all trades – impressive for someone so young and inexperienced. Seligman received rave reviews for her work at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), mainly for her direction and screenplay, only losing to One Night in Miami for the latter.
Shiva Baby is full of awkward moments, moments that could very well happen in real life; the aloof Dad trying to get everyone into his minivan towards the end of the film, after the craziness that surrounded the Shiva only moments before. This authentic humour is aided by a solid cast, especially Danielle’s parents Joel and Debbie (Fred Melamed and Polly Draper) who are wonderful foils throughout. The film makes me want to attend a Jewish get-together for the sheer laughs, but on the other hand, the close cross examination from all attendees would send me into a frenzied panic attack.
This comedy drama is set around a day in the life of one Danielle, a young bisexual college girl who is ambling her way through life whilst living off her sugar daddy Max (Danny Deferrari), lying to him about what she does at college. In tandem with that, she also lies to her parents Joel, and Debbie, about what she does at college – she is the master of the double life.
Danielle must attend a Shiva, a weeklong mourning period that starts off with a wake for the first-degree relatives (yes, I did have to look that up) with her family. At this party of mourning, Danielle must deal with her ex-girlfriend Maya (Molly Gordon), who is succeeding at life by making waves as a law student, as well as the myriad of family members who harass her about her career and love life. As if the day couldn’t get any worse, Max shows up – due to knowing the host of the party – with his wife Kim (Dianna Agron) and their annoying baby, leading to a very awkward and tense day in hell for this young girl.
Danielle must manoeuvre her way around the house avoiding certain people, all whilst trying to figure out what her purpose in life is. Danielle is anxious throughout the film; anxious because of the situation with Max and his wife, as well as constantly being hounded by these nosey people about her life, she is trapped in this tiny house – which does seem to have far too many people in it.
Danielle is also extremely jealous of Kim because she is successful, beautiful, and married to the man she lusts for, turning her bitter. Danielle is a self-confessed feminist, she plans on organizing women’s marches, and yet she acts in this childish way to a woman she should be inspired by and respects – there are so many intricate layers to this film. Danielle is close to exploding, ready to release all her secrets and emotions in one final denouement. To top it off, the crying baby in the background is a constant reminder about her current situation, a clever little nuanced touch.
Shiva Baby is a brilliant debut from a future star director, so comfortable at creating the perfect atmosphere and getting the characters performing how she wanted. The family vibe that the Shiva created was authentic to a tee because no matter what type of family get together you attend, you will always be hounded by those loveable family members. The themes were effective and well-represented that you get the feeling that Seligman herself has experienced many of these emotions, allowing her to imprint them on to the film so effectively – this is something that comes across automatically when watching.
I know what they say about a film being exactly the length it should be, something I don’t agree with all the time, but Shiva Baby felt like the perfect length at 78 minutes, with it being real time and the fact it was adapted from her own short. Hopefully, Seligman can use this film as a platform to elevate herself to the top, because she certainly has all the tools capable of doing so.
Shiva Baby is available to watch on Mubi now.
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