Sugar Goop.
We kicked off August discussing the ins and outs of the photography industry in the American giallo Eyes of Laura Mars before getting serious with a discussion on the afterlife and religion in queer director Alejandro Amenábar‘s The Others. Now we’re somewhere in between drama and comedy with writer/director Emma Seligman‘s raucous comedy slash anxiety-driven Jewish horror film, Shiva Baby.
In the film, Rachel Sennott stars as Danielle, a young woman who is secretly doing sex work on the side of her College degree. As the film opens, Danielle is meeting with her married lover Max (Danny Deferrari) before heading to a Shiva, a week of Jewish mourning, where she meets her parents Debbie (Polly Draper) and Joel (Fred Melamed).
Danielle’s lies about her financial status and career plans quickly begin to surface when Max arrives with his wife Kim (Dianna Agron) and baby in tow. Then there’s Maya (Molly Gordon), the girl that Danielle made out with and never called.
Can Danielle survive the Shiva without all of her secrets coming out? Only a screaming baby, the unlocked phone and her supportive/nagging mother stand in her way.
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Episode 243: Shiva Baby (2020) feat. Lindsay Traves
Log into your Sugar Baby app and get ready for comments about your appearance because we are discussing Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby (2020).
Joining us is returning guest Lindsay Traves, who unpacks all of the Jewish elements from Shiva coffee to accusations of “Jew Face.”
Plus: Dianna Agron’s “shiksa goddess” and Jewish beauty ideals, tackling the depiction of sex work and bisexuality, Jewish character actors, and Sugaring apps.
Cross out Shiva Baby!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re headed back to camp with the campy (and ridiculous…and silly) Sleepaway Camp2: Unhappy Campers (1988) in time for its 35th anniversary.
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for nearly 258 hours of additional content! This month we’re discussing horror tropes that gotta go, as well as episodes on Meg 2: The Trench, Talk to Me, and The Last Voyage of the Demeter. And to tie in with that last one, our audio commentary for the month will be on Bram Stoker’s Dracula (the Coppola one).