Directing: B+
Acting: B+
Writing: B+
Cinematography: B
Editing: B

There’s no one famous in Shiva Baby, but that’s one of the many things that makes it such a delightful watch. The movie is filled with character actors, one of whom, Fred Melamed, might be recognized from several other independent films if you’re prone to watching them, as well as TV shows. He’s run the gamut, from A Serious Man to In a World… to Bone Tomahawk to Lady Dynamite and WandaVisision. Whenever I see Melamed in something, I have come to regard him as a litmus test of sorts. He’s a good actor, but in some things he’s good, and in some things he’s not great, coming off as unrehearsed. I’ve decided this is a particular reflection of the director: did they get the necessary performance out of him?

I’m happy to report that Shiva Baby is one of the good ones, in which Melamed blends into the cast seamlessly, especially playing husband to Polly Draper’s Debbie. These two are both well-rounded even as they play the parts of bickering Jewish parents to the title character, Danielle. They are all attending the funeral service of a distant relative by marriage, where all but the opening scene of the film takes place—the simple premise being that Danielle has left the home of one of her clients, only to find him also at the service.

As written and directed by Emma Seligman, adapted and expanded from her 2018 short film of the same name, Shiva Baby clocks in at a tight 77 minutes, barely qualifying as a feature film—but given the single setting, it works. As played by 25-year-old Rachel Sennott (the only holdover from the original short), Danielle is a young woman whose often petulant motivations are never quite fleshed out, but Seligman keeps things running with such efficiency, you never get a chance to care. And I got a lot of good laughs out of this movie.

Advocates for bisexual representation should be pleased to learn that Danielle is decisively bisexual, and not confused about her sexuality—she’s just confused about a whole lot of other things in her life. To make things even more interesting, her ex-girlfriend Maya (Molly Gordon) also happens to be at the service. Between her slightly overbearing but loving parents, her ex-girlfriend, the many relatives who berate her for being too skinny, her sugar daddy, his wife she didn’t know about, and their baby, Danielle spends her time overwhelmed by the sensory overload of the event. Luckily for us, most of these peripheral characters are hilarious.

The sugar daddy, Max (Danny Deferrari), is not the most memorable character, really just fulfilling a role of plotting in this film; he could have stood a little more dimension. To call him a “sugar daddy” might be misleading to some, as Max is not especially old—he’s just, maybe, ten years older than Danielle. And even though Danielle’s motivations are never fully clarified, I still liked that her decision to have sex for money is never treated by this film with judgment: “I wanted money and it was an easy way to get it,” she says, matter-of-factly. Note the word wanted rather than needed: Danielle has parents who are attentive and provide for her. She’s a young woman figuring out her place in the world, and that process just happens to include sex work. Good for her!

Seligman does work in a bit of literalism with the “baby” of the title. Shiva Baby is not just a broad play on words with the phrase “sugar baby”; her parents keep calling her their “baby,” and when Max’s wife—who happens not to be Jewish—arrives, she brings a literal baby into the picture. Danielle, who has been telling everyone she’s been making her extra money “babysitting,” is confronted with holding the baby at one point, betraying how very much it does not come naturally to her.

Some might dismiss Shiva Baby as too clever for its own good, without anything of real substance to say. They wouldn’t be too far off the mark, except that this movie achieves everything it sets out to. It takes an amusing premise and runs with it, winding up far more entertaining—and funnier—than you might expect. There are unexpected layers to its characters and its characterizations, just not especially to its story, which is neither a requirement nor a necessity here. In short, I had a great time, and this was 77 minutes well spent. Given that it’s currently available only on VOD, it was also $3.99 well spent.

*Would you believe these people are the life of the party I mean shiva>*

Overall: B+