In Sorry, Baby a “bad thing” has happened to Agnes (Eva Victor)—and that thing is sexual assault. Victor (she/they), who’s also the writer/director, did not want the audience to view the assault, however. They explained this to NPR:
I tried to create a film that I feel like I needed, and I couldn’t find a film that didn’t freak me out to watch. And I do think that not going inside actually allows us to remain with Agnes and not be ahead of Agnes. I wanted us to emotionally stay with her, in the confusion, the doom, the bad sense, the fear, without going inside. I wanted us to not know what she went through until she decides to tell us. I also wanted the film to believe her words. Because we never get to be behind the door in real life. We hear about people’s experiences, and it feels like we only really know about what happens behind closed doors in movies. And in real life, we hear people talk about what they went through, and I wanted the film to not question her words. I wanted the film to just believe her. And that’s not even a question in the film of whether it happened or not.
Agnes’s (queer) best friend, Lydie (Naomi Ackie), is as supportive as can be. Lydie has moved away, though, and has created a seemingly more fulfilled life than Agnes has been able to.
Told out of sequence, the story starts with the two former grad school classmates/housemates happily reuning. It then works backward to spotlight Agnes’s mental health difficulties of the past few years.
The Sorry, Baby trailer captures its essence and touches on a few aspects I’ve left out, including a neighbor (Lucas Hedges), a panic attack, and cat “adoption“:
Depiction of the Trauma and Its Effects
Monica Castillo, rogerebert.com: “It feels refreshing to see characters discuss this taboo topic without making it the defining focus of their lives. Agnes has a friend who adores her, a situationship, a career, and colleagues who like and don’t like her. The crux of the film hinges on her moving on, in fits and starts.”
Kimberley Jones, Austin Chronicle: “It’s stomach-churningly commonplace, to find yourself in a situation you thought was safe, in a relationship dynamic you thought you understood, and then all of a sudden one person changes the rules, forcibly. But what is uncommon is a filmmaker who can traverse dark terrain with such lightness.”
Hannah Strong, Little White Lies: “It’s the banality of enduring a sexual assault that Victor captures so well in her film; how the trauma lingers long in the body, even when you keep insisting to everyone (including yourself) that you’re fine.”
Odie Henderson, Boston Globe: “There are funny moments, to be sure, but they lean toward a type of irreverent gallows humor that those of us affected by trauma often wield as a defense mechanism.”
Justin Chang, NPR: “Victor knows how often trauma is exploited and trivialized in movies. And in Agnes, they’ve given us a character who sidesteps the clichés of trauma at every turn.”
Selected Reviews of Sorry, Baby
Kate Erbland, IndieWire: “…a darkly funny and enormously tender film that, yes, is about what happens after the worst occurs, but with plenty of room to weave the light next to the dark.”
David Fear, Rolling Stone: “The manner in which Victor presents this narrative, with such verve and confidence and tenderness and pitch-black humor, defies easy description. It’s simply an amazing display of someone knowing how to get their voice and vision across.”
Aisha Harris, NPR: “This is the kind of film that sneaks up on you, funny when least expected and affecting without being cloying. And it officially announces the arrival of Victor as a performer and filmmaker to keep on your radar.”
