With the masterpiece “I Saw The TV Glow,” Jane Schoenbrun created atmospheric mystery horror that deals with bittersweet TV nostalgia, blurring memories and the search for the true self – peppered with metaphors for coming-out fears and transgender identities. The film quickly became a modern cult classic for the LGBTQ+ community, especially in English-speaking countries. It is possible that the introspective horror story will also be recorded as a milestone for another reason in the future.
Because Schoenbrun allowed Eva Victor to play mouse on the set of “I Saw The TV Glow”. This professional solidarity between two non-binary filmmakers ultimately led to Victor's remarkable directorial debut “Sorry, Baby”, produced by “Moonlight” maker Barry Jenkins – and the sarcastic, brittle, yet sensitive tragicomedy about the (silent) consequences of sexual violence, which celebrated its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and subsequently also in Cannes shows that US indie cinema is now enriched by a striking directorial talent!
Agnes (Eva Victor) is still suffering from being raped by her former professor. Nevertheless, “Sorry, Baby” is anything but a pure trauma film.
New England: Agnes (Eva Victor) still lives in her shared apartment from her student days – but now she only shares the house with her cat and has made the leap from literature student to young professor with a temporary position. When she receives a visit from her best friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie), who now lives in New York City, she is very happy! Not least because Lydie is happy to announce that she is pregnant thanks to a sperm donation.
Lydie also finds out that Agnes has a relationship with her neighbor Gavin (Lucas Hedges). But cracks in the pleasant mood keep appearing. Because Agnes' doctoral supervisor Prof. Decker (Louis Cancelmi) raped her shortly before she graduated, which, although not continuously, still bothers Agnes again and again…
Brittle, distant and painful
While constant anxiety runs through “I Saw The TV Glow,” there are islands of (apparent) normality in “Sorry, Baby.” Nevertheless, Victor emphasizes in interviews that, in addition to purely logistical lessons, he learned a lot about staging horror on Schoenbrun's set. That certainly cannot be denied when looking at this non-chronologically told first novel with its difficult tonal changes, even though “Sorry, Baby” is much more down-to-earth than Schoenbrun's allegorical mystery: with casual efficiency, Victor turns a closed room door into a gruesome sight that brings back uncomfortable memories. The distant, quiet outside view of Prof. Decker's house as the hours fly by, even though Agnes only wanted to briefly discuss something, also causes discomfort – you don't want to see the act at all!
Especially since the subsequent retelling, played in a shocking way by Victor, during which Agnes fluctuates, aghast, from detailed scraps of memories to rough impressions and circling thoughts, immediately producing new, cold shivers. But “Sorry, Baby” doesn’t only approach the topic through such harsh moments: even before the crime, Agnes is portrayed as a snippy person with a dry sense of humor – and consequently, afterwards, she turns her sarcasm into a protective shield. In no scene does this become more evident than during a medical examination the day after: the matter-of-fact doctor treating Agnes is constantly criticized for his tone of voice. And this despite the fact that Agnes and Lydie, who came along for emotional support, downplay the rape itself, throw around gallows humor and become increasingly cynical.
Her best friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie) is an important source of support for Agnes, even if she has unfortunately moved to New York.
It is a scene that is both dryly funny and dramatic, which Victor tells with empathy for all the characters stuck in this stressful situation. At the same time, it shows that although all sorts of protocols exist for procedures following violent sexual crimes, the victims are still left almost helpless. The situation is similar in a scene in which Agnes, who is called to court as a jury, has to consider during the selection process whether she will dutifully tell strangers the truth or whether she will let her rape fall under the table in order to save herself the shocked, pitying looks.
Victor stages this passage with a neurotic, thoughtful sense of humor that… Mumblecore-Films like “Greenberg” or “Nights And Weekends” are remembered. From this film genre, Victor also seems to have borrowed a feeling for characters who are stuck in a transition phase. Because Agnes's detachment can be interpreted as meaning that it is not solely fueled by her status as a rape survivor. Among other things, Victor portrays her as a person who struggles with the fact that her best friend has moved away and has arrived in a new phase of life – while Agnes has also landed a coveted job, but her living situation alone gives the impression that she hasn't changed since her student days.
Masculine fashion as a co-star and scope for interpretation
Subliminally, “Sorry, Baby” is also a portrait of a person who struggles with her gender identity: she is usually fine with being called female. However, in a short, striking moment, Agnes modifies a questionnaire so that she can tick her box in an ambivalent way (in interviews, Victor still uses female pronouns for Agnes – we have based this criticism on this). Against this background, Agnes' changing fashion style is also ambiguous: Victor and costume designer Emily Costantino mark the phases of Agnes' life by increasing and decreasing affection for body-hugging shapes. There are phases with a noticeable number of layers of clothing and ultimately a self-confident settling into textures, colors and cuts that are generally understood to be masculine.
Where in Agnes' aesthetic reinvention the search for another protective armor ends and a separate process of adult self-discovery begins – Victor leaves room for interpretation right up to the end. What speaks in favor of the more optimistic interpretation, however, is that “Sorry, Baby” is not just about suffering and permanent scars, but also about empathy and growth – as in the warm-hearted scene with the owner of a sandwich shop (great: “Fargo” star John Carroll Lynch), who first yells at Agnes because of a triviality, but then sensitively guides her through a panic attack. It only makes sense that in this multi-layered film, Agnes gains the maturity to find her true (fashionable) self as she gets older – but people want to interpret this as overcoming trauma.
Conclusion: As sarcastic and shocking as it is sensitive: with “Sorry, Baby” Eva Victor recommends herself for an exciting, multi-layered directing career.
We saw “Sorry, Baby” at the Cologne Film Festival.