The Reel Review
Years after experiencing a traumatic, life-changing incident while she was a graduate student, Agnes seeks old friendships and new relationships to help her find an emotional path forward with her life. Eva Victor and Naomi Ackie (Blink Twice, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody) star in this dramedy that was written and directed by Victor.
Despite its good intentions about the exploration of trauma and how it takes time and patience to recover, Sorry, Baby suffers from uneven pacing, a clumsy screenplay and an awkward performance from its star, Eva Victor, in her feature film debut. In her defense, directing oneself is challenging, especially when it is the first time. Ackie is excellent as the best friend, with Kelly McCormack (Another Simple Favor, Letterkenny, A League of Their Own) providing quirky comic relief as Agnes’ self-absorbed colleague and Lucas Hedges (Boy Erased, Manchester by the Sea) as Agnes’ neighbor and possible love interest. More often than not, however, the film feels like an awkward college film project that still needs a bit of rework.
What Sorry, Baby does get right is its honest, unflinching portrait of trauma and how victims often have a hard time coming to terms with what has happened to them, much less seek out justice against their perpetrators. And in that, Sorry, Baby gets it right.
REEL FACTS
• Eva Victor shadowed director Jane Schoenbrun on the set of 2024’s I Saw the TV Glow, to prepare for directing her film.
• The film’s producer, Barry Jenkins (Aftersun, If Beale Street Could Talk, Moonlight) met Eva Victor after following her on Instagram, inviting her to send him scripts from her production company. Post-production for Sorry, Baby happened close to where director Jenkins was overseeing post-production for 2024’s Mufasa: The Lion King.
• Sorry, Baby was filmed in eastern Masschusetts.
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