Doyle Akin

Shiva Baby is a “dramedy” film about a young bisexual woman named Danielle who attends a shiva, where she runs into her ex-girlfriend and the person who she is having an affair with and his wife, making for a really awkward event. The movie explores Danielle’s complex situations regarding relationships, college, and career while trying to navigate through this intensely awkward shiva. The tension builds up throughout the entire movie as each interaction feels more and more nail-biting to watch. The score was absolutely amazing as well, it fit almost perfectly with every scene it was used in, my favorite use of the score was in the scene where a relative asks Danille her major, the awkward conversation that unfolds is perfectly topped off with chilling music. The acting is also incredible, the way each actor delivers and really sells the emotions of their character is very well done, especially Rachel Sennott playing Danielle. Every interaction she made you could really feel her emotions, feel how she felt, and made you feel like you were there at the house in person, watching her conversations unfold. But despite all this, there are some major negatives. As I mentioned before, the movie is a “dramedy”, meaning that it tries to infuse drama and comedy together. It nails the drama part as mentioned earlier. But the comedy in this movie was not good at all. The comedy was very uncomfortable and didn’t fit the movie at all. If the director removed most of the comedy in this movie, it would be much better. My final rating for this movie is three stars out of five. Despite the comedy thrown in, The movie did its job of portraying the awkward and stressing experience for Danielle at the shiva. Overall a good movie, I would recommend it for anyone who likes drama movies that is looking for something to watch on a weekend afternoon, just don’t watch it because for the sole reason you heard it was a “comedy” movie, or else you’ll be disappointed.