Sorry, Baby review – a warm, bitingly funny refocus of the trauma plot

By now, a full week into Sundance, it is clear that the indie film festival is in a bit of a slump. While the Utah fest boasts an impressive and impassioned slate of documentaries this year – I haven’t seen a dud yet, and I’ve seen many – the narrative offerings have mostly fizzled on impact. Plenty of beautiful shots and atmospheric vibes, aimless plot and unearned yearning.

Which made the premiere of Sorry, Baby, comedian Eva Victor’s feature debut as a writer-director, an especially brisk breath of fresh air on Monday night. Sharply written, smartly structured and well-acted, with a star-making turn from Victor herself, the 93-minute black comedy is not only nimble and consistently funny but also one of the best, most honest renderings of life after sexual assault that I’ve seen.

Honest, in that its interest is just that: life after, not the event itself, which has unfortunately been given gravitational weight in so many other handlings of the subject post #MeToo. Sorry, Baby reconfigures the settings of the now de rigueur trauma plot, which tends to give the Bad Thing annihilating force, wringing suspense and purpose out of the question of what happened to her or the reveal of very bad men. Trauma as a totalising identity, downward spiral, expected element.

Something bad did happen to Agnes (Victor), an English professor at a Bowdoin-esque college in rural New England (filming took place in Ipswich, Massachusetts). Her best friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie) alludes to it in the film’s first of four chapters, titled The Year With the Baby, with the trailed-off vagueness of the lived and understood. Agnes’s life has inched forward while Lydie’s has galloped – Agnes lives in the same house as grad school, teaches in the same programme, and now has his office; Lydie is married and building a family in the city. But it’s one concerned note of many in their reunion, which the two actors perform with irresistible intimacy across believable beats: catching up, physical closeness, the big questions and validations, and the interruption of a neighbour (Lucas Hedges) that Agnes may or may not be fucking. Hints of depression, but the predominant tone is joy – the thrill of being with the one person for whom you can drop all facades (and also, a welcome rebuttal to the idea that friendship necessarily wanes post-partnership).

That sensibility – lightness shaded by the past, consistent jolts of deadpan humour – helpfully frames the film’s return to the event itself, a few years earlier (I am personally pleased that Sorry, Baby has a solid grasp on its timeline). Back then, Agnes and Lydie were roommates in the same grad programme, with Lydie being the charming slacker to Agnes’s top student, who receives special, talent-affirming attention from their adviser, Preston Decker (Louis Cancelmi). The teacher and student text and flirt and express mutual admiration; Lydie jokes they should just have sex, and Agnes demurs. Victor finds an inventive method to avoid depicting the bad thing while still conveying the time elapsed and the wordless shock after.

But it’s thankfully not a mystery to leak out over time; Agnes tells Lydie in believable specificity what happened – a fully convincing performance of mutating shock from Victor and of empathy from Ackie – and Lydie confirms, yeah, that is the thing. These are not naive women. They summarily embark on all the necessary decisions – go to the hospital? Go to the police? Report to the department? Agnes proceeds as many do, with a destabilising mix of denial, doubt and furious certainty, which Victor renders with aching specificity and bristling humour reminiscent of Fleabag (it helps that Victor, a willowy brunette, also resembles Phoebe Waller-Bridge).

Victor has a deft and refreshing handle on the absurd situations, unnerving ironies and forced inevitability of moving forward, and how sexual assault can shred one’s self-confidence but not destroy you. Agnes is still smart and funny and endearing, able to build a teaching career and new, tentative relationships; she is also haunted by a bad experience inseparable from her career. Sometimes you think about and feel the lure of the abyss; other times, as she says in one especially poignant scene with an acquaintance played by John Carroll Lynch, you don’t think about it at all. Life goes on.

Certain elements of Sorry, Baby are dialled up a little too high – an uncaring experience at the doctor’s office exaggeratedly callous in a way we’ve seen before, and a jealous and socially awkward work rival (Kelly McCormack) is a shade too intense for the film’s rare, delicate naturalism. But without sensationalism or overstatement characteristic of the nascent genre, Victor brilliantly illustrates the experience of aftermath in its mundanity, its small joys, its pain, and its strange companionships. In particular, the great tragedy of what he did: to have such disrespect braided into praise of her intelligence, her worth, erodes her faith in it. It may be impossible to fully recover. But she has her best friend, her wit, her stubborn persistence, and time. Her life, rendered with such layered complexity that Sorry, Baby should become a breakout of this festival.

VOCABULARY

slump – loss of strength, quality, or success

Sales have been in a slump since the new competitor entered the market.

impassioned slate – a lineup that is emotionally charged

The theater’s impassioned slate this season focuses on social justice stories.

dud – failure or flop

I’ve tried all the dishes on the menu and haven’t seen a dud yet.

fizzled on impact – started with promise but quickly lost energy or failed to impress

The studio released several sequels, but the narrative offerings have mostly fizzled on impact.

atmospheric vibes – strong sense of mood, ambiance, or feeling conveyed by a setting or work

The café has atmospheric vibes with its dim lighting and jazz music.

unearned yearning – a desire or emotional pull that feels unconvincing or not supported by the story/character development

The romance left me cold; it was full of unearned yearning.

brisk breath of fresh air – something refreshing, new, and energising

His teaching style was a brisk breath of fresh air after years of dry lectures.

sharply written – witty, clever, precise, or insightful

The dialogue was sharply written, keeping the audience hooked.

star-making turn – a performance that launches an actor into fame

The film gave her a star-making turn that critics raved about (admired).

nimble – quick, light, and adaptable in movement or thought

The gymnast was nimble on the balance beam.

His nimble wit kept the conversation lively.

renderings of life – artistic portrayals or interpretations of human experience

The painter’s renderings of life in the city were vivid.

gravitational weight – figurative heaviness, seriousness, or pull that makes something feel important

The loss had a gravitational weight on the family.

reconfigures the settings – reshapes the context, background, or environment

The app reconfigures the settings automatically for each user.

annihilating force – a power that completely destroys or wipes something out

The storm hit with an annihilating force.

wringing out – squeezing liquid out of something; metaphorically, draining effort, emotion, or energy

The novel wrings out every ounce of emotion from its premise.

He felt wrung out after the intense meeting.

totalising identity – an identity that defines someone entirely, overshadowing all other aspects

She rejected the totalising identity imposed by society.

trailed-off vagueness – speech or writing that fades away without clarity

His explanation ended in a trailed-off vagueness.

life has inched forward – progress in life happening very slowly

Despite setbacks (problems), her life has inched forward.

life has galloped – has moved forward quickly

Since graduation, life has galloped for him.

concerned note – a tone or element expressing worry or unease

She added a concerned note to her otherwise cheerful letter.

The teacher spoke with a concerned note about attendance.

drop all facades – stop pretending and show one’s true self

In private, he dropped all facades and cried.

welcome rebuttal – refreshing or appreciated counterargument (debunking) or response

The film is a welcome rebuttal to stereotypes.

Her calm answer was a welcome rebuttal to his harsh critique.

wane – decrease gradually in strength, intensity, or importance

The moon waxes and wanes each month.

Her enthusiasm wanes after repeated failures.

jolts of deadpan humour – sudden bursts of humour delivered in a dry, emotionless way (kamienny humor)

His speech had jolts of deadpan humour that caught people off guard.

charming slacker – lazy or underachieving person whose personality is nevertheless likable

Jake is a charming slacker: he skips deadlines but wins everyone over with his smile.

She dated a charming slacker in college who never studied yet was adored by professors.

talent-affirming attention – recognition that confirms or validates someone’s talent

She finally got talent-affirming attention with her latest book.

demurs – politely objects, hesitates, or disagrees

He demurs at taking credit for the project.

The witness demurs to answer personal questions.

the mystery leaked out – the sense of secrecy or intrigue diminished or disappeared

The magic trick failed and the mystery leaked out.

to render – depict, represent, or make something in a particular way

The painting renders the landscape in vivid colors.

His apology renders the situation less tense.

bristling humour – humour that is energetic, sharp, and overflowing

His bristling humour lit up the conversation.

unnerving – causing anxiety, discomfort, or unease

The silence after the argument was unnerving.

endearing – inspiring affection, warmth, or fondness

The dog’s clumsy run was endearing.

Her endearing smile won everyone over.

tentative – hesitant, uncertain, or not fully developed

She gave him a tentative wave from across the room.

Their laughter was tentative at first but soon grew louder.

poignant – deeply moving, touching, or emotionally affecting

She shared a poignant memory of her childhood.

Their farewell at the train station was a poignant moment.

dialled up too high – exaggerated, overdone, or excessive

The music was dialled up too high for the small room.

The drama in the script was dialled up too high.

callous – emotionally insensitive, cruel, or unfeeling

She gave a callous shrug when asked about her friend’s struggles.

His callous joke about the accident shocked everyone at the table.

overstatement – exaggeration; saying something is bigger or more extreme than it really is

Calling it the “best ever” is an overstatement.

nascent genre – newly developing or emerging category of art or writing

Podcasts are shaping a nascent genre of storytelling.

The nascent genre of climate fiction is gaining popularity.

aftermath – consequences or results following an event, often a disaster

The aftermath of a natural disaster is the period of recovery and rebuilding.

In the aftermath of the scandal, he resigned.

mundanity – being ordinary

She complained about the mundanity of office work.

companionship – relationship based on spending time together and mutual affection

Pets provide invaluable companionships.

to erode one's faith – to gradually weaken or diminish trust, belief, or confidence

Corruption can erode one’s faith in institutions.

Repeated failures erode one’s faith in oneself.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jan/29/sorry-baby-movie-review-sundance 

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