Shiva Baby (2021) - Movie Review

This film hurts to watch. Not in the sense that it’s bad (far from it, as I’ll get into), but because it is an incredibly visceral representation of an equally visceral reaction to stressful social situations. Or, for quite a lot of people out there (myself included), social situations in general. It’s one of the shorter films I’ve looked at this year (about 78 minutes including credits), and its premise is a seemingly simply one. It involves college student Danielle (Rachel Sennott) attending shiva, along with her extensive extended family, and just happening to bump into Max (Danny Deferrari)… who is also her sugar daddy. Cue the panic.

Eighth Grade (2019) - Movie Review

Part of me hates movies like this. Sure, I’m not entirely adverse to coming-of-age stories, as I’ve covered some pretty damn good ones over the last few years like You’re Not Thinking Straight, The Edge Of Seventeen, Lady Bird and Love, Simon. However, the part of me that dislikes going out to see this category of cinema, and something that reaches somewhat of an apex with this film, is a very specific type of cringe. The kind that comes from seeing adolescents and teenagers struggling with their own awkwardness in a school setting, making one realise just how awkward they themselves were at that age. If that’s not the feeling you get from seeing films like this, I'm assuming you come from somewhere in Andromeda.