Eva Victor’s directorial debut, Sorry, Baby is almost too indie for its own good. It has the prototypical subject matter, cinematography, structure, performances and vibe that Sundance audiences eat up every year. As they should, there is clear craft and intention behind the film’s construction but as the credits rolled I couldn’t help but feel there was something left on the table. Sorry, Baby is undoubtedly good, it's just missing that spark to elevate it above its peers.

 

Lydie (Naomi Ackie who makes every scene she’s in that much better) comes down from New York to Agnes’ (Eva Victor) small rural home for a weekend. These friends reuniting allows Victor to show off her greatest strength as a writer and performer: realist dialogue. We get to join in on their joy as they tell jokes and catch up on all that’s happened in the past year or so. Most importantly we learn that Lydie is pregnant and through a dinner party with the girls’ former PhD graduate peers that something life altering happened at Fairpoint between Agnes and the group’s advising professor Preston Decker (Louis Cancelmi).

 

Then we are back in time to Agnes and Lydie in said graduate program. From the circumstances alone we know the tragedy that will strike, it’s merely a matter of how and when. Victor, when it comes time to depict the sexual assault, leaves us outside the professor’s house watching day turn into night. We as spectators feel as powerless as Agnes stuck inside. Victor harrowingly taps into the mundanity of such assaults then throws us into Agnes’ post-rape drive home. We get both ends of the spectrum as we experience Agnes’ frenzied and dazed state directly after the assault ends. This whirlwind is the highlight of the debut feature as the young director finds a new dignifying way to capture the earth shattering pain and confusion without the perverse salaciousness we might ordinarily expect.

 

As we continue year to year following this trauma the film reveals itself not to be about the catharsis of capturing the predator but the agony of moving forward. Decker hands in his resignation before Agnes makes an official complaint with the university so the Fairpoint representatives (in a delightfully funny yet heartbreaking scene) tell her there’s nothing they can do and Agnes in the end chooses not to press criminal charges.

 

Victor really gets at how empty life can feel after such a horrible thing happens. We see Agnes become Fairpoint’s youngest faculty member and see her start a relationship with her sweet neighbour Gavin (Lucas Hedges) but the weight of her trauma never allows her to appreciate these moments fully. Seeing Lydie’s complete ecstasy when she announces her pregnancy and marriage, Victor showcases profoundly all that sexual assault takes from its victims.

 

With all the dark subject matter, I’d be remiss to not include the fact that the film is incredibly funny. It is a testament to Victor’s control of tone that scenes (best example is the jury scene) can share gut busting jokes and emotionally devastating moments without clashing or minimising their impacts. Agnes and Victor are using comedy to avoid confronting the harsh reality of the situation which ultimately only makes the situation feel sadder.

 

Sorry, Baby is the kind of indie film that garners attention for good reason. While I think it’s missing a little something to make me want to come back a second time, there is clearly a new voice developing right before us. It is certainly worth watching and I will be looking out for Victor’s next film hoping this marks the start of a great career.