Movie Review: ‘Sorry, Baby’ Pulls Off a Delicate Balance Between Heavy Drama and Light Comedy

Trigger Warning: Sorry, Baby is about sexual assault and, as such, the review will be talking about sexual assault. But the movie is also primarily about healing from sexual assault and is very delicate in how it treats the subject. I feel like this could be a very healing movie for some people with trauma, but if you’re still not up to reading on, I won’t take offense.

Eva Victor has a smattering of film roles under their belt, a few seasons on the Showtime series Billions, and now launches into a filmmaking career with their directorial debut, Sorry, Baby, which they also wrote and starred in. In this sleeper of a dramedy, Victor proves that she is a triple threat, pulling off all three of their roles as writer, director, and lead actor flawlessly.

The film follows, in a non-linear way, the story of Agnes (Victor), a young academic in grad school studying English literature. In her final year of her grad program, Agnes is the prize pupil of her professor Preston Decker (Louis Cancelmi), much to the jealousy of the other members of her cohort. Then, one day, when meeting with Decker at his home to discuss a paper, Agnes is sexually assaulted by Professor Decker.

The movie follows Agnes’ journey from grad student to full-time professor while she deals with the trauma of her assault. At her side all the time is her fellow student and best friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie), a lesbian woman who is just starting to figure out her sexuality. The friendship between Agnes and Lydie is a strong one, and Lydie is the perfect best-friend for a terrible situation. Together, Lydie and Agnes navigate insensitive medical professionals while Lydie gives Agnes room to not be OK and find her own healing in unconventional ways. And, as Lydie finds love and has a baby, Agnes finds a new hope for the future in her friend’s happiness.

This was easily the most vulnerable and honest film about sexual assault I’ve ever seen. But then, I don’t know what film I’m comparing it to because, when I think of other films about sexual assault, there aren’t any that really fall into the same category as Sorry, Baby. There’s the rape revenge films of the 1970s, most notable of which is I Spit On Your Grave, which sensationalized the revenge on a rapist as a sort of vicarious satisfaction for audiences, but never really engaged with the topic of sexual assault on any emotional level. There’s Emerald Fennell’s brilliant film Promising Young Woman from 2020, but I’d argue that’s sort of the smarter spiritual sister of the rape revenge films in that it’s about a woman seeking revenge for her friend’s rape. There’s She Said from 2022, which told the true story of the New York Times story that uncovered Harvey Weinstein’s long history of sexual abuse, but that’s coming at the topic from a completely different angle. There are films where sexual assaults happen but where it isn’t the focus of the film. But nothing I can think of really focuses on the topic in such a profoundly emotional way as Sorry, Baby.

Perhaps the most impressive feat that Sorry, Baby pulls off is its delicate balance of comedy and drama. The two elements mingle at times, but never in a way that makes it feels like the film is making fun of its own subject matter. The moment when Agnes is assaulted is not handled with humor, for example, but the ineptitude of the bureaucratic systems that Agnes turns to for help is played for humor to hilarious effect. The conversation where two representatives of the University tell Agnes there’s nothing they can do to help her and then say that they understand her situation because they’re women is just so supremely awkward in its irony that it’s hard not to laugh.

Yet, the film is very careful with its subject matter. Those who are sensitive to sexual assault, I’ll let you know that the assault doesn’t happen on-screen. The entire event happens behind closed doors and is then explained in dialogue later on. I think that’s a great way to handle it because it’s gentler and doesn’t try to be salacious about sexual assault. I feel like Victor was very aware that a good deal of their audience would be sensitive to the topic, and they almost seem protective of those people in the audience. There are also consensual sex scenes, but even those don’t get too graphic, which seems more appropriate given the overall subject matter of the movie. If anything, one of the consensual sex scenes is disarmingly cute and charming and reminds us that it’s possible to find joy in sex again after trauma and that not every sexual experience has to be traumatic.

I was in a PhD program when I was younger, although I never finished. But I definitely saw how, at that level of education, the line between professor, mentor, and friend became blurry. I wouldn’t ever think anything of coming to a professor’s house to discuss a paper. I did that in my Master’s program, and later house sat for that same professor. So I can definitely see that there’s a lot of potential there for a predator to take advantage of someone within that world. Luckily, I didn’t experience that. But I think Victor accurately depicts the dynamics of professors and students, as well as the social dynamic within a student cohort.

Sorry, Baby isn’t the comedy that’s going to elicit a lot of loud guffaws. This isn’t that kind of movie. This is a subtle comedy that’s as gentle as the breeze in the sleepy little New England towns it was shot in. But there’s something truly charming about that gentle comedy, especially when balanced so expertly against much darker moments. There may be heavy moments in this film, but I think, at the end of it, you’re going to walk away smiling. And what more can you really ask for from a movie?

Rating: 94/100

Sorry, Baby is rolling out across the country and seems to be debuting in Denver this weekend. Check here for show times.

If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, you are not alone. Reach the RAINN crisis helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).