In 'Sorry, Baby,' actor and director Eva Victor puts herself center stage with a fragmented portrait of a young woman grappling with trauma

LeMonde

6 days ago

Le Monde's verdict – Must See
Sorry, Baby, Eva Victor's first feature-length film, is told in fragments, with Victor also in the lead role. The pivotal scene unfolds at the heart of the second half, with Agnes entering a house during the day, framed in a wide shot. The viewer, however, remains at the door as hours pass on screen until night falls. The literature student finally emerges, slightly disoriented, as the camera follows her from behind across the campus. Haggard, she returns to her car. We follow her entire drive face-on, with Agnes's panicked face partially obscured in the shadows. Something happened in that house, though the film neither shows nor names it explicitly; instead, it delves deeply into the repercussions.
By the time Sorry, Baby begins, this traumatic event has already occurred years before. Addressing the complex subject of trauma, the film moves through a chronology divided into sections, where past, present and future appear out of order. How does one depict an upheaval that alters the most intimate parts of oneself beneath the surface? Victor chooses to stick closely to her character's perceptions and sensations. For Agnes, everything becomes both near and far at once; some scenes stretch out, while others end abruptly with sharp ellipses. In places, the film takes on a circular quality, playing with echoes, as if trauma intensified the sense of repetition.