There’s a time jump in “Sorry, Baby,” but it isn’t to the future when Agnes (Eva Victor) is never in a place to see it. Telling anyone who will listen that she can’t see herself getting older, a pretty clear picture emerges of where she’ll be a few decades on after becoming one of the youngest at Fairmont University to attain a full-time faculty position at the school after being a grad student there and this wasn’t where she was supposed to end up when she came to school in the first place to develop as a novelist, but after tragedy strikes, a position as a faculty advisor offers a sense of security and requires little personal risk. One can be thankful Victor isn’t to be confused with the character she plays on screen, putting herself out there in a myriad of ways in her astonishing feature debut and has a way with words that makes it all the more devastating to think about all that was lost when time stops for Agnes, putting herself on a track to tenure rather than the literary stardom she would be justified in imagining.
Language is exceptionally sharp in “Sorry, Baby,” in spite of how casual it comes across as most everything is in the quiet Northeastern burgh where Agnes lives. She prefers the calm, which complicates her reaction to the unwanted advances of her own faculty advisor (Louis Cancelmi) during a consultation on her thesis, an event that shakes her to the core when she lacks the words to describe it, nor would want to when she estimates the fallout would be worse than the act itself and perhaps unjust to all involved. Thrust into a position where she feels those closest to her can do nothing to help and those in a position to help have their hands tied, someone so invested in where to place a comma because of the meaning it has is robbed of what’s most important to her as basic interactions in light of what happened seem absurd and quantifying things becomes impossible.
Victor is wise to open “Sorry, Baby” when you aren’t entirely aware of what state she’s in, brightened up by a reunion with her best friend Liddie (Naomi Ackie), who left for New York as she probably thought she would’ve after college. But after a dreadful dinner party organized by her frenemy Natasha (Kelly McCormack) as a reunion of her old writing cohort at the school, the film pulls back in time to reveal why she remains stuck even as she leaves the table when any belief she had in herself vanished in an instant. It’s difficult to make ambivalence compelling, but Victor structures the film in such a way you share Agnes’ curiosity for how she reacts, with every step outside her door becoming uncharted territory and good things can torment her as much as bad, maybe even more, when it’s no longer what she’s come to expect.
This mildly surreal experience always has one foot firmly in reality, as Victor shows an unusually tender touch for how characters treat one another not entirely aware of what the other is going through, but she also has a keen and admirably perverse instinct for taking recognizable situations and making the peculiarities seem more familiar than their more pedestrian parts. Anyone who’s been summoned for jury duty will appreciate the brilliance of a scene in which Agnes attempts to get out of serving, feeling as if she’s being put on trial herself when trying to explain why she’d be potentially biased in a particularly extraordinary moment of wordplay, and there’s an almost meta quality to the moment in which Agnes reaches what may be her lowest point after the assault and it becomes the point you’re most aware you’re watching a movie with the casting of the venerable John Carroll Lynch and some out-of-character editing for its deliberate pacing, as if the narrative that’s unfolding has become something Agnes would like to detach from.
“Sorry, Baby” clearly announces Victor to be a force to be reckoned with, but it’s a triumph that’s not hers alone. Ackie and Lucas Hedges, as Agnes’ neighbor and potential love interest, both make quite an impression and avoid cliche in sensitive supporting roles, and without ever being too showy, the film boasts exquisite production design from Caity Birmingham where the books that have piled up around the house have gone from inspiration to burden and the marvelous compositions of cinematographer Mia Cioffi Henry that constantly reminds of the space that Agnes has to etch out for herself. There may be no words for what she goes through, but “Sorry, Baby” rises to the challenge to show off a distinctive and exciting new voice.
“Sorry, Baby” will screen again at the Sundance Film Fest on January 28th at 7:30 pm at the Megaplex Redstone, January 30th at 9 pm at the Ray Theatre, January 31st at 2:30 pm at the Library Center Theatre and February 1st at 11:30 am at the Rose Wagner Center. It will also be available online from January 30th through February 2nd via the Sundance virtual platform.