Shiva Baby

Directed by Emma Seligman, Shiva Baby follows Rachel Sennott’s twentysomething Danielle as she reluctantly agrees to accompany her overbearing parents (Polly Draper’s Debbie and Fred Melamed’s Joel) to a wake – where the character must subsequently contend with the presence of an embittered ex-girlfriend (Molly Gordon’s Maya) and the family of her married lover (Danny Deferrari’s Max). First-time filmmaker Seligman delivers a slight yet mostly compelling endeavor that benefits substantially from its stellar performances, as Sennott’s often hypnotic turn as the conflicted protagonist is matched by a stellar assortment of scene-stealing periphery players. It’s clear, too, that the decidedly interior setup – the movie doesn’t, after all, leave the aforementioned wake more than a couple of time – never becomes as claustrophobic as one might’ve assumed, which is undoubtedly due almost entirely to an impressively propulsive narrative that’s been packed with engaging interludes and encounters. (There is, for example, a palpably tense sequence towards the end in which Danielle becomes completely overwhelmed by the various complications of the scenario.) And although Seligman occasionally seems to be straining to fill the appreciatively-brisk running time, Shiva Baby ultimately comes off as a remarkably assured debut that, one imagines, heralds the arrival of a seriously promising new talent.

*** out of ****