Emma Seligman's "Shiva Baby" is very definitely a movie in miniature, (it only runs for 77 minutes), but its bright, widescreen palette belies the fact as does the immense skill of everyone involved. It's a Jewish comedy of the old school but with a razor sharp edge, (think Elaine May), and it almost all takes place at a shiva, the 'after-party' following a funeral though we are initially introduced to its central character Danielle, (a terrific Rachel Sennott), having sex with her sugar daddy, Max (Danny Deferrori) in his apartment. You see, Danielle supplements her income, the one she gets from her rich parents, as a sex worker, not because she needs the money but because she seems to enjoy it and you can just imagine her reaction when she runs into Max at the shiva with wife and baby in tow.
The film, Seligman's first feature, began life as an 8 minute short which she has now expanded into the cinematic equivalent of a really good short story and as comedies of embarrassment go this is a gem. Sennott is a star in the making but then everyone in this film is pitch-perfect especially Molly Gordon as Danielle's ex-girlfriend, (yes, she's bisexual), and Polly Draper as the archetypal pushy but loving Jewish mother. Throw in a score by Ariel Marx that seems to be priming you for some 'Psycho'-like action and you have one of the very best films of the year.
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