Female Film Critics 24/375
A puzzling romantic comedy gone wrong, Oh, Hi! tries to make a point about miscommunication in modern relationships. It’s always good to explore why, but this cringy absurdist effort is instead precarious, preposterous and problematic. Writer-director Sophie Brooks, who co-wrote with actress Molly Gordon, is on a troublesome high-concept wavelength that is hard to connect to, for the goal seemed to be more about attention-getting than to be relatable.
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The title Oh, Hi! suggests something unexpected and spontaneous, and that’s an accurate reflection of director Sophie Brooks’ sophomore film. Oh, Hi! is not your typical romcom, if it can be described as a romantic comedy at all, and while IMDB tags it as a dark comedy, it’s not really that either.
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Romance, its joys and travails, has enjoyed a prime spot in movies for decades. Recently, quite a few films present appealing, even provocative stories with memorable, complex characters. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with writer/director Sophie Brooks’ Oh, Hi! in which Iris and Isaac retreat to a remote rental house for a romantic weekend. After several episodes of enjoyable sex, a dip in the nearby lake, and a lovely dinner followed by an amorous dance, they decide impulsively and playfully to use sexual bondage paraphernalia found in a closet.
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It says so much about Shiva Baby that audiences are calling it a horror movie although there is literally nothing violent or scary about it. What’s terrifying is college senior, Danielle, attending a shiva (a Jewish post-funeral ritual where mourners gather to eat and socialize at the home of the deceased) with her parents, only to be forced to deal with the yentas she grew up with and some unexpected guests including her sugar daddy, Max, and the wife and baby she didn’t know he had. Oh, and, also, her ex-girlfriend, Maya.
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Watching college student Danielle endure a shiva that becomes her personal hell in the comedic drama Shiva Baby will trigger sparks of recognition in anyone who’s lived through similar gauntlets. Weddings, reunions, and even funerals often have that surface interaction with people we haven’t seen in ages and various insecurities underneath.
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The Broken Hearts Gallery has an adorable set up. We meet three best friends, in a high school bedroom, sorting through the remains of a dead relationship. The banter is witty and fresh. The actresses, Geraldine Viswanathan, Phillipa Soo, and Molly Gordon, sparkle. And the premise is inventive—built on a young woman who memorializes relationships via quirky keepsakes: retainers, used Solo cups, doorknobs, neckties, and a collection of chachkies that would impress several grandmas.
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in Shiva Baby, Seligman paints a distinctly contemporary portrait of a young woman whose carefully constructed false identity is about to come crashing down, forcing both herself, her peers and we, the audience, to address the damage the social fetishization of professional success can do to young people who just need time to figure things out on their own.
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