Shiva Baby
Utopia | Release Date: April 2, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
ConsequenceLauren J. CoatesApr 2, 2021
Paced to perfection and grounded by a magnetic leading performance, Shiva Baby is as painfully awkward as it is impossible to look away from. Read full review
100
RogerEbert.comMonica CastilloApr 2, 2021
As a team, Seligman and Sennott share a spot-on sense of comedic timing, knowing just when to throw in the next cutting remark, eye roll, or fake smile. They hit bullseye each and every time, all the way to the credits. Read full review
91
The Film StageChristopher SchobertSep 16, 2020
Shiva Baby is a blast of energy and from its first moment to its last Seligman finds the right balance. There is genuine suspense, if not horror; the score, by Ariel Marx, could just as easily fit a summer camp slasher flick. But the greatest feeling for the audience––after discomfort––is excitement. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJason BaileyApr 13, 2021
It’s rare for a film to simultaneously balance such wildly divergent tones, to interweave big laughs with gut-wrenching discomfort, but Seligman pulls it off. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Helen ShawApr 1, 2021
A perfectly engineered and performed piece of comic cringe. Read full review
90
Paste MagazineIsaac FeldbergApr 1, 2021
Marvelously uncomfortable and cringe-inducingly hilarious, Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby rides a fine line between comedy and horror that perfectly suits its premise—and feels immediately in step with its protagonist, the college-aged Danielle. Read full review
83
Original-CinLinda BarnardMar 25, 2021
Seligman’s tight script landed her on Variety’s list of 10 Screenwriters to Watch for 2020. She uses classic Jewish humour and archetypal characters here that echo 1960s comedy albums and TV sitcoms but freshens it with Generation Z angst and a cascade of emotional pileups. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeSep 16, 2020
The style of humor in Shiva Baby can best be described as “sex-positive cringe,” in which the secondhand embarrassment comes less from the sexual situations themselves than our heroine’s collision with polite, conservative society. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJun 10, 2021
Seligman’s command of the flow and swell of comic tension is thrillingly intuitive – she knows exactly when to let it well up, and when to pop it for maximum effect. Read full review
80
CineVueChristopher MachellJun 10, 2021
Shiva Baby is ostensibly a comedy yet has all the tension of a thriller. At its most emotionally fraught, it uses the visual and aural grammar of horror cinema. Read full review
80
EmpireAlex GodfreyJun 7, 2021
A perfectly painted portrait that also makes for sharp social commentary, this just goes to show what you can do with a tiny budget but a huge amount of talent. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJon FroschSep 16, 2020
Anchoring it all is Sennott, deploying a stealthy, low-key timing that's perfectly suited to a character still struggling to figure out, and get comfortable with, who she is. The actress makes you lean in, her face a frequently blank canvas animated by sporadic squiggles of wit, neediness, resentment and longing that recede almost as soon as they appear. Read full review
80
VarietyTomris LafflySep 15, 2020
Having grown up in a tight-knit Jewish community herself, Seligman tightly orchestrates it all with loving cultural specificity and nuance, working her satirical muscles to a thrilling extent. Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenMay 17, 2021
Shiva Baby has a comic claustrophobia that almost makes you choke, so intense is its depiction of familial/traditional walls closing in on its main character. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattApr 8, 2021
Enter Shiva at your own risk then: a hell of Danielle's own making maybe, but still a witty, jittery trip. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrApr 7, 2021
From its title on down to the rugelach, Shiva Baby is an instant classic in the Jewish comedy of mortification, a genre that combines hilarity, anxiety, resentment and schmaltz. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 2, 2021
Rare is the comedy that seems to make time stand still. But for 77 cringeworthy and hilarious minutes, that’s what writer-director Emma Seligman pulls off with Shiva Baby. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDavid RobbMar 30, 2021
Emma Seligman’s film effectively builds tension from what is a relatively familiar, low-key scenario. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorSep 16, 2020
The concept and the laughs hold strong amid all the craziness because Seligman has such affectionate sympathy for her mendacious protagonist. Read full review
75
IndieWireJude DrySep 16, 2020
Shiva Baby blends a claustrophobic Jewish humor with a sexy premise to deliver a lively debut. Read full review
75
SlashfilmJason GorberSep 16, 2020
Sullen, sarcastic, silly and seductive at various times, the film manages to walk a high-wire act of tone, making the act of mourning the least miserable part of the family gathering. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerMar 31, 2021
Seligman's script will strike a sharp chord in anyone that has run into overly-complicated situations at a family gathering (i.e. just about everyone). It feels like a hurdy-gurdy that is just enough put of tune to leave you uneasy, a sensation of queasiness further unbalanced by Ariel Marx's discordant, scratchy, string-and-timpani soundtrack Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJun 9, 2021
The film is maybe a little callow, but it’s an undoubtedly impressive and accomplished debut. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinApr 1, 2021
Unfortunately, writer-director Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby, despite its thematic acuity, loopy vitality and committed acting, doesn’t add up to enough in its too-brief 72 minutes (plus end credits) to warrant all the cross-wired mayhem that gets us over the movie’s dubious finish line. Read full review
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