Sorry, Baby

Beautiful acting by the lead, but the script lacks full development of the characters. Hard to understand main character's motivation. No development of origin. Also, she has no family. Why?

Lastly, portrayal of males was 1 dimensional and unbalanced. We see the sociopath, the nice but weak guy, the main doctor, and the strangely helpful but random older man. But we don't have the presence of one strong male in Agnes' life. That would have made this movie much better and more balanced.

Without that, you get a gut punch of having watched something really terrible happen to a nice person without any real good explanation and without enough redemption.

As such, it was unpleasant without enough redemption.

SORRY, BABY (2025) ***1/2 Eva Victor, Naomi Ackie, Louis Cancelmi, Kelly McCormack, Lucas Hedges, John Carroll Lynch. Heartfelt and heartbreaking dramedy with Victor (who, if Sigourney Weaver & Paula Cole had a baby, resembles) as a small-town liberal arts junior professor going thru her life year-by-year with personal events - both hilariously wonderful and horrendously terrible with equal weight given - in her dry-witted, dead-pan and amiable manner with aplomb. Ably assisted by her bestie Ackie (adding sweet gravitas and anchoring the film soulfully so) and neighbor love interest Hedges (touchingly gawky and lovely), Victor (who also wrote & makes an assured directorial debut) adds layers to character development skillfully with its short-story vibes and interactions of cringe-worthy moments while balancing the deeply poignant life lessons as well as the smile-thru-it-all complexities of navigating the pitfalls with the triumphs. Bonus - arguably cinema's cutest kitty & baby. Ever.

One of the year's best films.

I really wanted to like this movie. However it felt like a movie that existed only because of the harshness of the subject matter, that of which is not explored very much in the film. There is not really any tension in the film, nor any real sense of storyline. It is basically just a slice of life tale but actually several slices that aren't that intertwined, and most of the plot points felt completely unimportant. You could edit this film down to 30 minutes or less, and it would probably be a lot better. I also felt like the movie could've leaned into Eva's quirkiness more, there were a few funny moments but not nearly enough. Some decent cinematography though and Naomi Ackie is always great. (6.2/10)

Watched at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Gosh, where can I begin? This movie is both hilarious and heartbreaking as it perfectly portrays of both the drama and comedic moments of life despite the harrowing situation that has been encountered. Eva Victor, who directed and acted, crafts an incredible drama that becomes a good character study of finding ways to move on with great dialogue, character dynamics, performances, and direction on the tone and atmosphere throughout.

Presented with good realistic camerawork, structure, and editing, the movie handles it serious themes solely and perfectly. Including great characters, atmospheres and cunning dialogue that are presented throughout the story that achieves the realism and nature approaches or life. There are some dialogue moments that are still burned into my memory which shows how good the dialogue is. Each conversation, choices and structure is held perfectly from Victor with each pacing moment feeling balanced, tone being focused and a good sense of humane style of life. No moment there was something that felt out of place, cheesy or unrealistic.

Eva Victor might be a new voice in cinema pretty soon and I do hope Victor is able to get the chance to shine soon.

I've seen this twice now (Sundance and LA premier), and what struck me on the second viewing is how cozy this movie is, despite the circumstances of the plot.

At my second screening, Eva Victor did a Q&A and emphasized how important it was for her to make sure the audience felt safe and she parsed through this story, and to avoid any depictions of violence onscreen.

This translated pretty clearly, as the warmth and love from friends, strangers, and new love interests help guide Agnes through the pain, guilt, regret, and distrust.

Also, awesome depiction of the Cat Distribution system. 10/10 cat.