Back in 2015, Trey Edward Shults made a little-seen independent film called "Krisha," about an elderly woman whose mental state disintegrates during a Thanksgiving gathering. "Shiva Baby," directed by Emma Seligman, has more or less the same plot, except that we have a young Jewish woman attending a shiva with her parents. Also, it's a black comedy.
Danielle (Rachel Sennott) is a college senior who has a sugar daddy relationship with a man named Max (Danny Deferrari). She attends the shiva of a distant relative with her parents, Debbie (Polly Draper) and Joel (Fred Melamed), and finds Max also attending. Max finds out, via the circulating gossip, that Danielle has lied about financial status and career plans. Danielle finds out that Max is married to a woman named Kim (Dianna Agron), who is also at the shiva with their baby in tow. Danielle's childhood friend Maya (Molly Gordon), who she's had some bad history with, is also in attendance to help escalate tensions.
"Shiva Baby" is the ultimate nightmare family event, where all the comfortable fictions that Danielle relies on get shredded by her family over the course of one afternoon. At first, it's just the usual little white lies about her plans for the future - that she's studying, and has interviews lined up. Then, the thornier, more personal business starts coming out. And all of this is done through the relentless chit-chat of nosy friends and extended family. Seligman's portrayal of the tight-knit Jewish community is very loving, even as she shows how unbearable it is. There seems to be an endless stream of elderly, beautifully dressed women who want to grope, feed, and interrogate Danielle about her love life and career prospects. Her parents think nothing of trotting out the most embarrassing episodes from her past and setting her up for future humiliations - all with the greatest affection. There's a clear generational divide, and the younger characters have their own unspoken rules. I love the little rituals and absurd bits of behavior that Seligman captures - everyone ignoring Max's screaming baby, all the passive-aggressive micro-aggressions, and several attempts to be helpful going horribly awry.
The cast is great. This is the first thing I've seen Rachel Sennott in, and she's fully in command of the movie, both dramatically and comedically. Danielle's great failing is that she hasn't been honest with anybody, and her attempts to try and control the damaging information reveal all her insecurities and foibles. Her best moment is a bit of physical comedy with the buffet that every woman will understand all too well. Draper and Melamed are a lot of fun as her parents. I appreciate that while they're insufferable, they're also quite lovable. It might take a minute or two for them to register when Danielle really is in distress, but then they immediately want to help. Deferrari and Gordon as Max and Maya, who have very good reasons for being upset with Danielle, keep up the glowering and the hostilities nicely. I wish the film had gone into more detail on Danielle and Maya's relationship, which is glossed over very quickly, since it's an unusual wrinkle in the dynamics that nobody seems comfortable with.
The filmmaking is a lot of fun, gradually ratcheting up the anxiety through uncomfortable camera angles and elements of sound design. When Danielle feels cornered, the gossip gets harder and harder on the ears, even though the content is just inanities. More obvious cinematic tricks are kept to a minimum, fortunately. The film is more effective for how wonderfully plausible it is, and how organically the comedy is integrated. A major theme is that everyone trying to be considerate and trying to put on their best face for others results in everyone being miserable. This results in two of the film's best scenes - one involving an impromptu job offer, and another involving Danielle's parents' van.
Out of everything I've seen in 2021 so far, "Shiva Baby" has been the most pleasant surprise. I'm looking forward to seeing what Seligman and Sennott do next.
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