Agnes (Eva Victor) is a professor at a college in rural New England, living a quiet life on her own. Her friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie) arrives from New York, and shares she is pregnant via a sperm donor. The pair visit old college friends Natasha (Kelly McCormack), Logan (Jordan Mendoza) and Devin (Cody Reiss). The reunion stirs memories of a sexual assault Agnes suffered, when in college, at the hands of professor Preston Decker (Louis Cancelmi).
After 10 minutes or so, I thought I was going to hate Sorry, Baby. I had taken a dislike to everyone on screen and I found the way they talked pretty irritating. But then, we go back three years to Agnes and Lydie as students, and things change. Getting to know the pair, I began to warm to them and their dynamic, and to understand the friction in the group.
Eva Victor’s script has moments of wonderful deadpan, throwaway, humour amongst a deeply serious subject matter. The highlights being an encounter with an unsympathetic doctor and Agnes’ experience of being involved in jury selection. It also really captures the aftermath of rape in a believably powerful way.
Victor additionally makes some bold directorial choices involving a couple of uninterrupted long takes. One during the assault, and one just after, that enhance the horror of what has happened.
By the time it ended, I had become completely invested in Agnes’ life and had come to appreciate how multi talented Victor is. There are also a couple of outstanding performances amongst the supporting cast. Lucas Hedges is very amusing as Agnes’ neighbour and the wonderful John Carroll Lynch steals the whole film in his brief appearance.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10