If my social anxiety could manifest itself into a physical form, it would quite literally be this film. Emma Seligman's Shiva Baby is an absurdly quick and brilliant movie that touches on so many different elements of contemporary culture in such a short runtime but does so in a way that never outstays its welcome. Everyone can agree that family, past relationships, and current flings can be some of the most stressful pieces of a person's life, and having them all crash in on each other during a funeral service seems like the modern millennial's nightmare. With an outstanding feature performance from Rachel Sennott and some excellently propelling direction from Seligman, this film turns out to be one of the most anxious yet relatable little stories of this entire year. Equal parts hilarious and authentic, this movie excels in all that it sets out to achieve and I would not be surprised if this becomes the underdog classic of the year.
Danielle (Rachel Sennott) is a young, bisexual, Jewish woman who is attending the shiva of a family friend as a favor for her mom Debbie (Polly Draper) and dad Joel (Fred Melamed). When she arrives, she finds out that other people in attendance include her ex-girlfriend Maya (Molly Gordon) and sugar daddy Max (Danny Deferrari), who all quickly start to cause problems for her as she tries to make it through the day. Adapted from a short film* of the same name from 2018, Shiva Baby is the perfect culmination of everything that can easily make someone anxious. Emma Seligman's writing and direction perfectly complement each other to create this deeply unsettling atmosphere and placing its complex main character in the midst of it all creates such a wild conflict. The anxiety of seeing an ex at a public function when things were left unfinished or complicated is incredibly harrowing and the way Seligman explores this relationship between Danielle and Maya was extraordinary. The anxiety of having to deal with family at every turn of the day is excruciatingly painful and especially being placed in close quarters, the sound design and overlapping mania of this whole story is a very relatable kind of overwhelming. And finally, the anxiety of sharing a space with someone you just hooked up with and are being paid by (in Danielle's case, her sugar daddy) can be a special kind of stressful but stressful nonetheless. Combining all of these character arcs and blending the fears that Danielle exhibits is no easy task but Seligman does it in such a hilarious and genuine fashion. I loved her handling of the script and being able to tell this one-location story in a tight, 77 minutes shows off Seligman's remarkable talent very well. The anxiety and relentless paranoia felt by Danielle throughout the film were presented beautifully both visually and in the writing and I was able to relate to Danielle's internal struggles much more than I would have thought. This is like if Uncut Gems revolved around a bisexual, Jewish woman at a shiva and Seligman makes this story's tone outrightly and unabashedly nerve-wracking in the best way possible.
It would seem that the premise of this movie would only work well for its original format of a short film but Seligman is able to expand this story into feature-length without ever missing a beat. Her pacing is just incredible and with the help of Hanna A. Park's editing, this story is launched forward without ever going through a single lull. So many of the most anxious scenes are cut by Park in the most frantic way that really made me experience this panic from Danielle's eyes. The constant ebb and flow of the easygoing and then maniacal editing were fascinating to see and the creative choices made in this area of post-production were just wonderful. I also adored the simple but effective score from Ariel Marx, who is able to brilliantly craft such a fitting musical accompaniment. Riddling every transitional scene and climactic turning point, Marx's score full of nervously-plucked string instruments was fantastic and really set the tone of this film in its most important moments. The music stood out to me more than I feel like it did for other viewers but the music's power to push along this story became very prevalent. However, the best standout aspect of this entire film has to be the performance from Sennott and the supporting characters around her. Sennott is just deadpan wonderful throughout the entirety of Shiva Baby and her line deliveries alone make this film worth a watch. She brings along her trademark dry wit and unabashedly horny style of comedy that she has come to be known for and she does so in the greatest way imaginable. She is able to hit every emotional beat incredibly well too and puts so much emotion into her character of Danielle while simultaneously embodying the breakdowns and overwhelming nature of her character's dilemma. Along with the supporting cast of characters that backed up Danielle's story and contributed to her mental state, this film is truly one of the most 21st-century stories I have ever seen and done so by a filmmaker and crew who show that they know the modern struggles of our generation.
Sennott could not have been a better choice for this lead role and her ability to carry this little film remains absolutely unmatched. Paired with the anxiety-fueled direction from Seligman and musical cues that were even able to make me feel secondhand anxious, Shiva Baby feels like a warm acknowledgment from someone at a party who knows exactly what you're going through. Not only will this movie soon dominate the Twittersphere of the internet but it rightfully deserves to be seen by everyone, regardless of age, religion, or whether or not you rely on a sugar daddy for income (which may be more people than you think).
* poster used is from the original 2018 short film as the theatrical poster is not yet available
My Rating: ★★★★
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