SHIVA BABY, US, 2020 (Comedy and drama at a Shiva). Starring Rachel Sennott, Molly Gordon, Polly Draper, Danny Deferrari, Fred Melamed, Dianna Agron, Jackie Hoffman. Directed by Emma Seligman. 77 minutes, Rated M (Mature themes, sex and coarse language).
There is a nonchalant, offhand tone about the title, Shiva Baby. The setting is, in fact, the Jewish mourning ritual of Shiva.
We are introduced to Danielle (Rachel Sennot) who is a precocious young woman. She claims to be a student and we find her in a sexual relationship with one of her lecturers. But it is a relationship in which he pays her.
There are complications with her parents, their hopes for her, her wanting some independence, making her own choices, and building up her finances from her relationships. The trouble with the sexual relationship is that the lecturer is married with a young child.
While the audience might be wondering where this is all leading, their expectations are cut short when Danielle is persuaded by her parents to go to the Shiva gathering. And, who is present but the lecturer and his wife and child? What follows is a series of both comic and dramatic, with touches of the tragic, encounters, avoiding encounters, the discovery that Danielle has had a sexual relationship with a fellow student at school who is still wanting to keep up the relationship. There are many tangles, including Danielle mislaying her mobile phone, her taking some provocative photos, and their being discovered.
There is a great deal of talk, quite a range of conversations, aggressively protective mother and comic performance from Fred Melamed as the father, a range of aunts and relations and neighbours who are continually wanting to have conversations with Danielle about her future, while Danielle is busy trying to escape some attention by helping with the catering and service.
There is the drama of the fickle lecturer and his relationship with his exceedingly competent business wife and the presence of the child at the Shiva.
There is quite a comic ending, the father insisting on giving everybody a lift and Danielle and family, the lecturer, wife and child, and a neighbour all crammed into a van.
There has been some criticism of the screenplay that it presents caricatures of this kind of American Jewish community – but, others comment that, nevertheless, this is fairly real!
JIFF
Released 5 August