Movie Review - Shiva Baby (Outfest 2020)

Emma Seligman makes her feature debut, expanding her 2018 short film of the same name. In it, her female, Jewish, bisexual, Ben Braddock-like protagonist ends up spending the day at a funeral, which becomes a pressure cooker of awkward conversations and increasing tension of a couple of secrets being revealed and several lies being exposed. The majority of it though comes down to one secret in particular being revealed. That one secret might have been the entire hook to hang a short film, but it's not necessarily enough to hang an entire feature-length film. The premise of whether-or-not the secret will be revealed feels like a stretch and the tension seemingly escalates but at times feels repetitive.

Rachel Sennott stars as Danielle, the girl in question. As mentioned, she's Jewish and bisexual. She's also a college student who feels shame from her parents and others that she's not on a professional track like doctor, lawyer or businessperson. She's more into art and gender studies, which doesn't seem like a path toward making money or having a profitable career. Stereotypically, having a profitable career is all the Jewish elders around her care about. She instead lies to her parents and Jewish elders about making more of her life and career than she perhaps is. Yet, that's not the secret or issue at hand.

Danny Deferrari (Madoff and Pan Am) co-stars as Max, a man with whom Danielle is having sex. Yet, after sex with him, he gives her money, implying that she is his prostitute. The story she tells him in order to get him to give her more money is that she's working her way through law school. Max has also lied to her in saying that he's a single guy with a lot of money. All of that comes crashing down when Max shows up at the same funeral as Danielle and the two are forced to spend time together. Max is also able to talk to Danielle's parents, so they unknowingly are able to refute their daughter's lies to him. Conversely, her parents are also able to unknowingly refute Max's lies. Namely, he isn't single. He's married and with a newborn baby. His wife and baby also attend the funeral and subsequent wake where the entire film is set.

What both Danielle and Max want is for Danielle's parents and most especially Max's wife not to learn that Danielle and Max have been having an affair or rather been engaging in a prostitution arrangement. Things are tense and awkward for a while. There are a myriad of shots of Danielle and Max staring at each other with Danielle looking like she wants to tell the secret and Max looking nervous and anxious that she will. Other potential objects come into play that threaten to reveal the truth, even if Danielle says nothing. These objects add a level of escalation that helps to keep the momentum of this film going, but most of it are shots of Danielle and Max staring at each other and this is what becomes repetitive about the whole thing. We just see them staring at each other over and over.

There's some comedy to mine from seeing Danielle become more and more of a neurotic mess as those escalations occur. Sennott has a Natalie Portman quality about her and Sennott's performance of Danielle unwinding as the shiva drones on is reminiscent of Portman's performance in Black Swan (2010) where at one point it does seem like Danielle is unraveling and might either lose her mind or suffer some kind of mental breakdown. While the performance is good, I'm not sure if the reason for said breakdown is warranted.

Dianna Agron (Glee and Veronica Mars) also co-stars as Kim, the wife of Max and mother to his child. It's implied that Danielle is jealous of Kim, both personally and professionally, but that aspect isn't ever nailed down. It's not clear how long Danielle has been seeing Max and it's not clear if she actually has romantic feelings for him. What puts it in question is because Molly Gordon (Ramy and Animal Kingdom) plays Maya, a childhood friend and Danielle's lesbian lover. Every scene between Danielle and Maya are rife with sexual tension and incredibly funny humor. The two start out at odds with each other, but if Danielle is going to end up romantically with anybody, it would seem to be with Maya.

Yet, it makes it even more baffling as to why Danielle would stay at the shiva and inside that pressure cooker, particularly when these things are bubbling to the surface, ready to explode. The constant question even from the early stages of the film is why doesn't Danielle just leave? I'm not clear enough with Jewish tradition or Danielle's allegiance to it that makes me understand why she would stay at the shiva when she is so clearly uncomfortable by Max, Kim and Maya's presences. Even the nagging from her parents and the other Jewish elders would be compelling enough reason for her to escape. Yet, she never does and I was never as convinced as to why.

The only other time I've seen a shiva on screen is in Shawn Levy's This Is Where I Leave You (2014), a film that didn't have the structure of taking place all in one day, but if it did, it would make more sense why any of the characters wouldn't make an escape. The only other film to which I could compare this is Frank Oz's Death at a Funeral (2007). Obviously, Oz's film was a different kind of comedy with more gags and pratfalls, more physical comedy, but it also had awkward tension, one-liners and other humor at its disposal. This film really hangs most of its hat on that awkward tension of the secret possibly being spilled, along with Danielle's embarrassment over not living up to her family's expectations.

To that end, the actors who play her parents are fantastic. Polly Draper (Tell Me a Story and Thirtysomething) plays Debbie, her mother, and Fred Melamed (In a World and A Serious Man) plays Joel, her father. They are the true stars of this whole thing and would be worth the price of admission alone if this were playing in a theater. Yes, they are really playing up the Jewish parents' stereotypes, but they are so good at it that they're hilarious.

Not Rated but contains language and sexual references.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 17 mins.

Streamed through OutfestNow.