Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Emma Seligman
Starring: Rachel Sennott, Molly Gordon, Polly Draper, Fred
Melamed, Danny Deferrari, Dianna Agron
Funerals are supposed to be sombre affairs but that very atmosphere can
lend itself to good humour. At my father's funeral I morphed into a
third-rate Catskills comic to help lighten the mood, and I'd like to think
that when I pass away, my funeral guests will turn my passing into a
comedy roast, ribbing me in death the way they did in life. If
Four Weddings and a Funeral had instead featured four
funerals and a wedding, it would likely have been four times funnier.
What better occasion then for comedy gold than a Jewish-American funeral?
That's the setting for writer/director Emma Seligman's feature
debut Shiva Baby.
Gen-Z-er Danielle (Rachel Sennott) has been secretly earning money
from various "Sugar Daddies", men who festoon her with money and gifts in
exchange for sex and companionship. She's managed to keep this a secret
from her parents – Mom Debbie (Polly Draper) and Dad Joel (Fred Melamed) – despite them spying on her bank account, by telling them she's been
babysitting for rich clients.
When Danielle is roped into attending a shiva following the funeral of
some ambiguous family member, she is shocked to find that among the guests
is one of her sugar daddies, Max (Danny Deferrari), accompanied by
his gentile wife Kim (Dianna Agron) and their infant daughter. Also
in attendance is Maya (Molly Gordon), with whom Danielle had
something of a scandalous affair in high school.
Picture one of Robert Altman's ensemble dramas, but with the attention
focussed on one specific protagonist, and you'll have some idea of how
Seligman's debut plays out. While Sennott's Danielle is the centrepiece, a
host of oddball characters revolve around her. They're the sort of Jewish
stereotypes only a Jewish filmmaker could dare to portray, constantly
querying Danielle's weight ("You look like Gwyneth Paltrow on food
stamps") and trying to set her up with jobs or a potential husband.
After initially shrinking away from such attention, Danielle begins to
rebel, rekindling her relationship with Maya and sneaking to the bathroom
to send nudes to Max.
Sennott's Danielle embodies a very modern sort of young middle class
milieu. She likely doesn't need the money she makes from her sex work,
rather she enjoys the feeling of power it gives her. While her parents
reluctantly accept her taking a college course with few career prospects
("Gender business") and try to steer her towards something more
"practical", she's already making a good living doing something she seems
to enjoy, even if it's far from socially acceptable.
Both Seligman and her young protagonist poke fun at the curious mix of
traditional conservatism and social liberalism of New York's middle class
Jewish community. Danielle's Mom claims she has a very tolerant outlook,
but she begins sweating every time her daughter talks to Maya. Max boasts
that by hiring Danielle's services he's helping the cause of feminism. Kim
is a successful entrepreneur yet still seems solely charged with raising
her kid while her husband is off romping with Danielle.
At a brisk 77 minutes, we're left wanting a little more, which is a
compliment to Seligman's ability to create characters we warm to. But
ultimately it's that very specific Jewish humour that makes
Shiva Baby so much fun, that ability to find a silver
lining, or sometimes a cloud, in every scenario. Example: when Danielle
spills coffee on herself, her mother remarks "Sheila's coffee is always
lukewarm anyway."
Shiva Baby is on UK/ROI VOD now.
