Shiva Baby entertainingly breaks down a breakdown at a funeral

Shiva Baby, released in 2021 and now streaming on MAX and Hulu, brings us into the spiralling downward mindset of a college student over the course of one day.

The 77-minute movie begins in the morning with Danielle (an excellent Rachel Sennott, whose minor but intense psychological break that we get to witness and who is also in a couple other movies high on my list to watch - Bottoms and Bodies Bodies Bodies) finishing up her business in the condo of an older man who pays her for sex and companionship.

Later that day, she is headed to a funeral with her wacky parents (Polly Draper and Fred Malamed), who add much-needed comic relief. Danielle is clearly distracted and doesn't even know, once there, whose funeral they are attending. She gets even more distracted when she realizes her ex Maya is there. Maya is played by The Bear's Molly Gordon and was the main reason I wanted to see Shiva Baby. She doesn't disappoint as she deals with the relatively cruel ways Danielle interacts with her.

Things get really uncomfortable when Danielle's sugar daddy unexpectedly arrives, and he's got a beautiful blonde wife who is one of the few if not the only non-Jewish people at the funeral. And their crying, screaming baby is with them as well.

It's a minor film but handles queer and Jewish issues in refreshingly subtle and nuanced ways, bringing us into those worlds and, in turn, showing us those worlds are no different than anyone else's.

3.5 out of 5 stars