Sorry, Baby
Multi-hyphenate Eva Victor wrote, directed and stars in her debut feature Sorry, Baby, which premiered at Sundance before closing the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.
The film begins with two friends reconnecting and sharing updates on their lives. Agnes (Victor) has been promoted to a full-time position at the university where she teaches, while Lydie (Naomi Ackie) is married and expecting a child. At a reunion with fellow alumni from their literature class, Agnes’s strong reaction to a series of seemingly minor slights begins to reveal that something traumatic happened to her during their time as students.
Using a non-chronological structure, Sorry, Baby explores the erratic nature of the healing process, where even the smallest occurrence can provoke a setback. At its core is the friendship between Agnes and Lydie, shaped by unconditional love and mutual support.
In her class, Agnes asks her students about the incongruity between the content of a novel (Lolita) and the stylistic form in which it is presented. There’s no clear indication of how meta this discussion is intended to be, but it pinpoints one of the movie’s central issues.
Where Nabokov’s poetic language belies his problematic subject matter, Victor’s relentless need to reach for cringe comedy as a counterpoint to emotional sensitivity becomes tedious. A beautiful story is actively undermined by the film’s insistence on a type of humour that speaks almost exclusively to a niche demographic: American millennials or younger. The dialogue’s fixation on calling out awkward social situations, paired with the characters’ incessant over-sharing of superfluous details, prevents the viewer from fully engaging with the protagonist’s emotional turmoil.
Naturally, this impacts the performances: dramatic beats are wasted and everyone comes across as stiff and deadpan.
With Barry Jenkins attached as producer and A24 handling distribution, Sorry, Baby will undoubtedly find an audience – even if it’s tailored to a specific group. Eva Victor’s approach will likely appeal to those who appreciate the hallmarks of 2010s mumblecore and the indulgent navel-gazing of Lena Dunham’s Girls.
Selina Sondermann
Sorry, Baby does not have a release date yet.
Read more reviews from our Cannes Film Festival coverage here.
For further information about the event visit the Cannes Film Festival website here.
Watch the trailer for Sorry, Baby here:
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