REVIEW: ‘Sorry, Baby’ is a stirring dramatic debut from Eva Victor

“Sorry, Baby” is a film told in a non-linear fashion, and it’s fitting, as dealing with awful situations life throws at you is never a straightforward process.

In addition to writing and directing duties, Eva Victor also stars in this picture as Agnes. In the movie’s opening, the audience learns that Agnes is a college literature professor teaching at her alma mater. Early in the film, Agnes appears to be getting on with life as well as she can, but also seems to be dealing with some turmoil.

The picture then digs into her past, showing previous years, and it’s revealed that Agnes was sexually assaulted while in college. The movie explores how in the time after, she tried to move forward both on her own and in communicating with others.

The way “Sorry, Baby” explores stages of dealing with trauma is effective, showing the early periods when a person is facing the aftermath, as well as how survivors can be impacted by what they went through years down the line. It’s an emotional, raw portrait that shows the ups and downs a person goes through as life goes on.

That is for the most part, at least. The opening scenes of “Sorry, Baby” are somewhat hit and miss, with the early portion of the movie not quite finding a great balance between drama and comedy, while also being a bit too vague.

It’s understandable what Victor was going for here. Agnes and her friend Lydie are clearly tip-toeing around something, with the former seeming to be struggling with something. It does build intrigue. They also have some joking banter, showing how humor and levity can help someone cope with a difficult situation.

Yet the first collection of moments doesn’t fully hook someone in as well as a viewer would hope. That’s not to say the film needed to have a huge bunch of exposition in the first portion, nor did it need to lean entirely into the dramatic side.

However, there’s a sense that the film just can’t find its footing at first. There’s a degree of separation with what’s unfolding on screen, and the attempts at humor are mostly ineffective.

That changes the more the film goes on, though. As the movie digs into other time periods of Agnes’ life, it becomes more and more engaging. The audience get to see so many sides of Agnes and what she has gone through, with each sequence feeling deeply personal and intimate.

The film does this not with scenes of grand monologues or heavily dramatized situations, but with a grounded slice-of-life approach. From a meeting with college staff about what she went through to later in life having to appear for jury duty, and even just a scene where she has a conversation over a sandwich, “Sorry, Baby” feels like a natural, lived-in experience, making the premise al the more powerful.

It’s a strongly realized look at the human condition, both in how a person keeps going on with life internally, and how outside relationships impact and influence that journey. When it comes to the latter, the film does this both with characters who only show up once, as well as those who appear multiple times.

John Carroll Lynch, for example, is on screen for just a sliver of time, but like usual, does tremendous work and leaves a mark. Lucas Hedges, meanwhile, is in several scenes, and is also very good as a character who has a more complex relationship with Agnes. It’s also just nice to see Hedges in movies again.

Victor does phenomenal work in the lead role, too. There’s a stunning extended sequence where she’s driving home at night in her car where her facial expressions alone say it all. As previously stated, though, the audience gets to know Agnes quite well over the course of this film, and Victor is impressive in showing a wide range of emotions with the character.

Agnes’ friend Lydie is a great part of the cast, too. Naomi Ackie, who was also recently in “Mickey 17,” gives her a robust personality, often both passionate and compassionate for her friend.  Louis Cancelmi’s acting is also quite good in his role.

Unfortunately, there’s also a character that’s a complete detriment to the film. Kelly McCormack plays a former classmate and current colleague of Agnes, and her scenes are all basically played up to be comedic.

That in itself isn’t necessarily a problem, but it’s the kind of comedy that ends up being an issue. Tonally inconsistent, it feels like McCormack’s character is from another movie and ultimately out of place. Overall, it links back to the film’s comedy sometimes working, and other times not.

What is consistently good, though, is the visual aesthetic. Victor and her team did a really good job in giving the film a more muted color-palette, without the picture looking lifeless. There’s just a clear authenticity when looking at the movie, and that vibe enhances everything taking place with the people in the film.

Despite an uneven opening and few stumbles from the comedy not always working, “Sorry, Baby” has so much going for it that it absolutely is a film worth watching. Victor did exceptional work in her capacity as a writer, director and performer, bringing a rich, moving picture to cinemas. 4.35 out of 5.