Set at a small New England liberal arts college, Sorry, Baby, revolves around Agnes (Eva Victor), a star grad student on her way to a professorship in American literature. Agnes experiences a trauma, and Sorry, Baby traces her path to healing over the next few years. Eva Victor also wrote and directed Sorry, Baby, and has infused leavening humor, including some LOL moments, throughout the film.
Sorry, Baby generated lots of buzz for Victor at Sundance and Cannes, and justifiably so. In her first feature film, she has demonstrated a gift for story-telling that is economical, always seems to hit the right tones and doesn’t underestimate the audience. For example, we don’t see the trauma, but we know what’s happening as Victor shows us a long shot of a house over an afternoon and evening. Then, Agnes’ matter-of-fact recounting of the event is infinitely more searing than if Victor had shown it as it happened.
Agnes isn’t the only smarty pants who has her quirks. But she must perpetually navigate life as the smartest-person-in-the-room, and is particularly observant of others’ foibles. Victor is sharply observant of human behavior, which gives her Agnes plenty of fodder for quick witticisms. The situation where Agnes would theoretically be the LEAST comfortable is jury duty, and Victor takes advantage of that in a very funny, and slyly revelatory, scene.
Sorry, Baby benefits from excellent performances from its remarkable cast. Agnes’ best friend is played by Naomi Ackie, the best thing about Mickey 17, and just as charismatic here. Louis Cancelmi (Killers of the Flower Moon, Billions) brings conflict and texture to what is, ultimately, a very selfish, cowardly and character-deficient villain. Lucas Hedges (Lady Bird, Manchester By the Sea) and John Carroll Lynch (Zodiac, Fargo) shine in their scenes with Victor’s Agnes. The broadest comedy comes from Kelly McCormack as Agnes’ most awful peer, a person so unhealthy that it’s hard to imagine her functioning outside of sheltered college life.
in the end, I admired Sorry, Baby more than I enjoyed it. I think that it was difficult for me to relate to the characters who inhabit the rarefied, insulated, self-congratulatory world of academia, which lends itself to so much self-absorption and over-thinking. That being said, Eva Victor is a promising filmmaker, and Sorry, Baby, manages to be smart, funny and heartfelt.