Sorry, Baby

Directed, written by, and starring Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby is a clever, emotionally resonant dramedy that examines the messy path of healing after trauma. Set in rural New England and told in five non-chronological chapters, the film centres on Agnes (Victor), a literature professor whose life is irrevocably altered by a sexual assault.

The film opens with a reunion between Agnes and her close friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie), now pregnant and settled in New York. Their chemistry is the emotional anchor - warm, intimate, and grounded in the unspoken understanding of shared history. Agnes navigates everyday life - teaching, jury duty and awkward dates with her neighbour Gavin (Lucas Hedges) - while carrying unseen scars that flare up at unexpected moments.

Victor’s choice to depict the assault off-screen - using implication and silence rather than dramatisation, even going as far as not to show the interior of Decker’s home adds more weight to the scene. The audience shares in Agnes’s shock and dysphoria, especially as up to this point the film was light-hearted.

Naomi Ackie brings energy and warmth as Lydie, offering both comic relief and steadfast support. My favourite scene was the sandwich stop-off; the exchange between the shopkeeper (John Carroll Lynch) and Agnes underscores the power of everyday kindness.

Visually, the film leans into understated cinematography: long, quiet takes and intimate close-ups capture Agnes’s internal turmoil and isolation. Agnes’s home being far away from the narrative structure, hopping across years, mirrors the uneven rhythm of memory and recovery.

Overall, Sorry, Baby is a striking, assured debut, darkly funny, deeply felt, and refreshingly honest about what it means to move forward when you feel stuck. Its emotional intelligence and carefully observed nuance make it a standout among this year’s upcoming releases. A must for fans of character-driven indie stories, it proves healing doesn’t need fireworks - it just needs truth.