Sorry, Baby (2025)

By: Mike Ward on Thursday, July 10

R Running Time: 103 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Eva Victor’s debut feature, Sorry, Baby, is one of the best films of 2025.

  • Fearless and honest storytelling that approaches trauma, recovery, vulnerability, and resilience in a raw and deeply relatable way.

  • Teaches and informs us as viewers, while also opening a window into how enduring a traumatic event can change someone over the course of a few years’ time.

NO

  • A bad thing happens to Agnes in the film and this could be potentially triggering for someone who has gone through a similar situation.

  • The non-linear format of storytelling may prove confusing or frustrating for some viewers

  • Dialogue-driven and character-focused, the film’s quiet tones and cynical wit may seem off-putting for those who struggle with the subject matter being even funny to begin with.


OUR REVIEW

Eva Victor’s powerful and unforgettable directorial debut, Sorry, Baby, not only closed out the 51st Seattle International Film Festival as the event’s Closing Night film but also won the 2025 Seattle Critics Award there, signifying the festival’s best film as selected by film critics and accredited media. Now in theaters nationwide, audiences can learn why this is such an important film - pushing against conventional storytelling and showing a woman discovering her own agency right before our eyes. 

Victor has said that they made the movie from a situation where they felt unheard. In nearly every moment of Sorry, Baby, their voice is vulnerable, honest, authentic, and real. Victor’s portrayal of Agnes is deeply relatable - awkward and occasionally impulsive, she is also brilliant, insightful, loyal, and messy, sometimes struggling to get out of her own way.

Because we build an almost immediate connection to Agnes, when she endures something really terrible with her college professor (Louis Cancelmi), we rally to her immediate protection. Though Agnes is fortunate enough to have a best friend to confide in with Lydie (Naomi Ackie), she remains forced to process the complex emotions of the encounter largely on her own. 

I cannot recall a movie that approaches trauma and recovery in quite this way. There’s an almost matter-of-fact aspect to Agnes’ story, yet Victor quietly shows us the damage one endures after experiencing a traumatic event. The decision to tell this chapter of Agnes’ life in a non-linear way, encompassing around five years or so, allows us to analyze and witness the ways in which Agnes has been changed by her experiences. We see her loose and carefree with Lydie, fumbling and awkward with a distant neighbor Gavin (Lucas Hedges), and trying to rationalize how she can stay in the town, the school, and community where such a terrible thing has happened to her.

Though Agnes struggles herself to make connections, Sorry, Baby digs deep into trying to understand how and why we connect with others. Why is Lydie such a wonderful friend, but there’s a coldness that exists with Lydie’s partner Fran (E.R. Fightmaster)? Why is Gavin clearly so enamored with Agnes, but she is content keeping him at arm’s length? These moments and observations are handled with genuine compassion and understanding and the conversations that occur between characters never hit a false note. 

Sorry, Baby isn’t going to be an easy film for everyone. The raw and unflinching dialogue and depiction of Agnes’ circumstances may prove triggering to those who have experienced something similar. Yet it is through that same lens that Victor teaches and informs viewers that everyday things we take for granted - words, phrases, items, and locations - take on a different meaning after a tragedy occurs. Life becomes irreparably different. And Victor allows us to see both the destruction from the event, the steps of recovery, and ultimately the efforts to try and put the pieces back together. 

This is a remarkable, smart, clever film about healing, survival, and resilience. Easily one of the best films of 2025, Sorry, Baby heralds Eva Victor as a powerful new voice worth paying attention to.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Eva Victor, Naomi Ackie, Lucas Hedges, John Carroll Lynch, Louis Cancelmi, Kelly McCormack, E. R. Fightmaster, Hettienne Park

Director: Eva Victor
Written by: Eva Victor
Release Date: June 27, 2025
A24