Set mostly in real time, 'Shiva Baby (2020)' focuses on a young woman whose life seems to spiral out of control when she bumps into her sugar daddy at a shiva. It's basically an exercise in controlled chaos. With its claustrophobic atmosphere, creepy soundtrack and uncomfortably relatable cringe, the picture basically feels like a panic attack on screen. In many ways, it actually tells its tales using tropes of the horror genre. It swaps jump-scares for awkward confrontations, monsters for judgmental relatives and blood and guts for unattainable expectations. It's not scary, as such, but it certainly gets under your skin, eking as much suspense from its central situation as possible. It puts you in the position of its protagonist, bombarded with passive aggressive prying and close calls with the truth. There's almost always an impending sense of doom; devastation seems inevitable. The flick isn't dour, though. It's often quietly funny, its comedy coming purely from its characters and their almost unbearable social situation. There's quite a bit of dramatic irony going on and it works very well. As does the character development in general, which is slight but significant. Every player feels like an actual person, like someone you could (and probably do) actually know, and that's really impressive. Overall, this is an entertaining and engaging film. It's interesting, well-written and unique. 7/10.

"Actually, a sitter is gravely needed when Max's Gentile wife Kim (Agron) brings their bawling bundle of joy to the shiva, Danielle's secret is at risk when telltale signs are observed by Kim, her naive act of sexual autonomy backfires and it is Maya who twigs her side hustle, a falling-out dampens their renewed passion. Beset by family friends' gossipy inquiry, a hot-and-bothered Danielle is desperate to leave, when measured small talk becomes exceedingly awkward, only a cup of lukewarm coffee can offer her a breather, and the family's egress is another scrape where everybody is squeezed out of their comfort zone but Seligman also celebrates the girls' solidarity whereas their older generation is predisposed to pass judgement."

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Shiva Baby is better than I thought it would be. I'm not going to say I was constantly laughing, far from that, but it definitely has something entertaining about it. Rachel Sennott did a great job playing her character. Watching her lie through her teeth all the time, and that whilst staying very charming (I think she's a real looker to be honest),it had to be done. The story is simple but effective. The funny parts are the older women gossiping in their Jewish way. The cinematography was not bad at all, with some really good shots every now and then. Shiva Baby isn't a long movie, rather too short, but for an indie production it's certainly worth watching.