A young Jewish woman’s steamy secrets are unearthed during one emotionally frantic shiva, in Emma Seligman’s comedy of discomfort.
Stuck in post-grad ennui, Danielle is fine living off her sugar daddy Max and lying to family about her revenue source. But her worlds clash as a shiva with her parents, where she faces the wrath of her ex Maya, and the arrival of Max and his wife. When tense conversations threaten to expose her secrets, Danielle must escape before the passive aggression in the house becomes all too aggressive.
An international co-production of the United States and Canada, the film stars Rachel Sennott as Danielle, a directionless young bisexual Jewish woman who attends a shiva with her family. Other attendees include her successful ex-girlfriend Maya (Molly Gordon), and her sugar daddy Max (Danny Deferrari) with his shiksa wife Kim (Dianna Agron) and their screaming baby. It also features Fred Melamed and Polly Draper as Danielle's parents Joel and Debbie, with Jackie Hoffman and Deborah Offner in supporting roles.
Emma is a Canadian filmmaker based in New York. She graduated from NYU’s Undergraduate Film & TV program in May 2017, where she made her first two short films, including her thesis, Shiva Baby, which premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival 2018, went on to play Palm Springs ShortFest and many other festivals.
She expanded Shiva Baby into a feature film starring Rachel Sennott, Polly Draper, Dianna Agron, Molly Gordon, Fred Melamed and Danny Deferrari that was selected to screen at South by Southwest Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Outfest LA, Deauville American Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival in 2020.