Shiva Baby * * * *

Very clever, very funny, and quite moving. 

Ninety percent of it is set in one location - a house in Brooklyn, which made me think perhaps it had been adapted from a stage play.   But that is not the case.  It was always a screen play and after a while you realise it had to be that way, with so many people crowded into a small space, the only way we can follow the story or the dialogue is to be an invisible guest at the event, courtesy of the camera lens. 

Danielle with bagel.

The event is a Shiva which is a Jewish wake. College student Danielle reluctantly attends. She is thrown together with an old friend with whom she now has a brittle and embittered relationship, her fussing parents, a tribe of aunts and uncles, and worst of all a client and his wife - and their baby.

Unbeknownst to anyone Danielle has a part-time job where she shares the pleasure of her young body with wealthy gentlemen. 

I don't know too much about Jewish gatherings but they are often displayed in films as the same as any other extended family gathering but supercharged, with an excess of food, relatives, loving interrogation, advice, gossip and opinion. 

Apparently this marvelous little film was made on a tiny budget and shot in two weeks. You'd never know it.  It's a polished production.  And like I said very funny. 

Based on this gem I'd reckon Writer/Director Emma Seligman has a hugely promising future.