EL SEGUNDO HERALD April 8, 2021 Page 3
Entertainment
‘Shiva Baby’ Review: Fans of
‘Fleabag,’ This Film’s For You
By Ryan Rojas for Cinemacy
In Judaism, “sitting shiva” is the week-long
mourning period that is observed following
the passing of a first-degree relative. In Shiva
Baby (now available to rent on Apple TV+),
the same sort of deep mourning is felt by a
millennial undergrad over the current state
of her young life and uncertain future. When
Danielle (Rachel Sennott) returns home from
NYU to join her family to attend a funeral,
she knows that she’s also entering the lion’s
den of an overbearing family who all ask
“How are you?” in the same sort of triggering
tone that’s equal parts overly eager
and concerned.
Danielle easily soothes family members
expectations with talks of post-grad ambitions
(either business or law school), while
concealing the fact that in actuality, she’s
academically middling and currently involved
with a sugar daddy in the big city. It’s not
until the arrival of an unexpected guest that
Danielle’s shakily constructed life starts to
crack, making for an event where everything
is set to come out.
Shiva Baby is such a refreshing and enjoyable
new comedy due to how totally authentic
the characters and situations all feel. It’s not
altogether surprising, given that the film is
based on the experiences and observations
from writer and director Emma Seligman’s
own life, here making her directorial debut.
Seligman’s shrewd observations of the Jewish
culture along with a new millennial identity
make for a wonderfully cringe-worthy but
very real culture clash. From the specificity
of detail in the shiva setting and the
hilarious characters who attend it, down to
its stark portrayal of young people owning
their newfound sexualities, Shiva Baby is
the type of equal-parts defiant and personal
filmmaking that make for the best kind of
directorial debuts.
While set to a fairly conventional narrative
structure (that of a person returning to the
home they once left and by doing so, are
forced to confront their true selves), Shiva
Baby merely uses this foundation to then
make daring leaps from. Danielle (played
note-perfect by newcomer Rachel Sennott)
brings a new young woman character (made
popular by Lena Dunham’s Girls and Phoebe
Waller-Bridges’ Fleabag) to the big screen,
who, for all of her flaws and poor decisionmaking,
remains unapologetically herself.
By her casually decided choices of engaging
with a sugar daddy as well as exploration of
bi-sexual attractions, Danielle subverts every
expectation that both her age and gender are
typically met with. In doing so, Shiva Baby
shows a very real and untraditional character
of female empowerment.
I absolutely love recommending a film
like Shiva Baby, a directorial debut that is
both successful in its own right and makes
me look forward to what lies next for the
whole filmmaking team. Especially as theaters
slowly re-open and new releases continue to
struggle to find mass distribution, it’s such a
gift to get the chance to be able to see a new
film like this one that also happens to be one
of the funnier adult comedies to come out
in recent times. Get behind this one, baby.
77 minutes. ‘Shiva Baby’ is not rated.
Available to rent on Apple TV+. •
Shiva Baby, courtesy Utopia Distribution.
Eagles Finding Their
Way Through the Seasons
By Gregg McMullin
High school sports are nearly all back to
normalcy during an abnormal time. The water
polo programs completed their season, which
was the culmination of Season 1 CIF sports
that included cross country, girl’s volleyball,
and football, which ends their season in two
weeks. Unfortunately, the girls’ volleyball
season was canceled due to restrictions. With
Season Two in full swing, including baseball,
softball, soccer, lacrosse, basketball, and boy’s
volleyball, the Eagles are stretched thin filling
out rosters. But, as El Segundo athletic
director Steve Shevlin says, “All the schools
are feeling the effects of filling team rosters,
and multi-sport athletes are scarce this year.”
Water Polo Teams Finish their
Seasons on Winning Note
An entire water polo season usually takes
three months to complete. But the Eagles
completed their 11-game season in less than
two weeks. The boy’s team, which featured
six seniors including Jaden Van DerWoude,
Brian Schodorf, Mason Jaeger, Ryan Calvinlim,
Ethan Kelch, and Ryan Whalen, finished
their season 7-4.
The high-scoring Eagles romped to a 19-0
win over Torrance. Whalen started the barrage
of goals early in the first quarter when El
Segundo raced to a 9-0 lead. Ten different
players scored goals for the Eagles, led by
Max Hale, who powered in five goals and an
assist while Paxton Fastman had four goals.
El Segundo throttled South Torrance 24-9 in
another win. Hale and Mason Jaeger led the
scoring with four goals each, while Schodorf
and Ethan Kelch each had three goals.
Ryan Rojas
Mason Jaeger capped off a brilliant career by scoring four goals against Santa Monica.
The Eagles played tight defense to hold off Santa Monica in the season finale.
See Sports, page 6
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