Sorry, Baby

I went into this movie relatively blind outside of knowing it had received great reviews. The movie doesn't open chronologically, and the initial chapter was a bit of a struggle for me. The deadpan and weird humor didn't exactly land, and it wasn't exactly clear where the movie was headed. There was a sense of unease throughout, and once the movie shifted to its second chapter, things started to click into place. The movie is very effective at using simple camera tricks to really heighten the moments of dread, and Eva Victor's acting style and humor starts to finally make sense. I thought it was really impressive how the same humor started to elicit actual laughs from the audience as it was reframed against the tragedy. Being able to mine this event for dark humor and having that humor work because it was tinged with that grief is a credit to her writing. The movie is also able to take very mundane interactions and showcase how they can trigger someone who is suffering from trauma. I thought there were multiple moments in the movie that were able to illustrate how genuine conversations or minutiae in daily life can harm those who are suffering from this type of trauma. Finally, the movie returns back to its starting chapter, creating a sort of bookend. The movie ends abruptly here, offering no real sense of catharsis, which makes sense considering there are no easy answers here. However, I initially struggled with both sides of the bookends, thinking they were odd and didn't deliver in the way the middle of the movie did. The person who I saw the movie with disagreed, telling me that it is very different for women. As I started to think about this more, I really started to appreciate the way the beginning foreshadows so much and how very small details are utilized later on, many of which I missed. The bookends help deliver a very sincere and heart wrenching message that I think the rest of the movie builds throughout. It's incredibly well made when you think about how everything ties together and how it is able to communicate its singular message in such a genuine way while still being expertly structured. This is the debut for actor, writer, and director Eva Victor whose triple duty role in this movie clearly highlights her as a talent to watch. This movie might not work for everyone due to the offbeat humor, but I do think it should be watched by a lot of people due to what it is trying to showcase.

This movie has some really effective moments and I appreciate what they are going for but overall doesn’t hit its potential. I like the way the film approaches humor in heavy situations but at times comes off a bit too tv dramedy.