Review of Shiva Baby

A low-budget independent film which takes place almost entirely in a shiva at a house in suburban New York, this is a gem...funny (in a painful way), clever, well-observed, well acted. It brings up lots of issues, some more obviously than others. The main protagonist is a young woman trying to live independently but without much cash, and selling sex for money to a single client, who she then meets at the eponymous shiva, where she's gone with her parents, and where she also meets her ex-girlfriend...and the client's wife and baby...

I note in passing that I didn't recognise any of the actors except Fred Melamed, who has been in lots of films, mainly playing the same awkward Jewish man. But the budget for the film was apparently $200k, so did he work for nothing?

There's a lot of sex stuff, and food stuff, and less obviously there is a story about young people and how impossible it is for them to get decent jobs (rather than unpaid internships) or find anywhere to live. Some of the scenese with Jews eating are grotesque and bit sickening, but this is more than made up for by the dialogue and the acting. Well worth seeing.

Watched on All4, which annoying re-started a little way into the film.