Shiva Baby 2018

Danielle, a college senior, has sex with her sugar daddy Max before she hurries to a shiva observance with her parents, Debbie and Joel. At her aunt Sheila’s house, Dani is gently coached by her mother on how to respond to questions about her disorganized life and learns that her ex-girlfriend Maya will be there. Inside the home, members of the local Jewish community compare Dani to Maya, who is adored by the neighbors and headed to law school, creating a subtle yet resolute pressure around her choices. Dani struggles to eat, moving from a full plate to a ritual scraping of food, a small but telling sign of her inner tension.

Max, a former colleague of Joel, arrives and Debbie introduces him to Dani in the hopes that one of Max’s relatives might hire her. After the exchange, Debbie warns Dani that Max is off-limits because he is married to a non‑Jewish woman named Kim. The tension tightens when Kim arrives late with their baby Rose, changing the dynamic of the gathering in a rush of family obligations and financial ties.

Dani injures her leg and retreats to the bathroom to tend to it, sending Max a topless photo from the moment. Downstairs, she finds it hard to look away from Max and his family, offering to clean up vomit in another room to escape the mounting attention. Maya appears, flirting with Dani, but Debbie pulls Dani away and reprimands her for engaging. In a tense moment, Debbie introduces Dani to Kim and asks for help with a job, revealing that Dani has been accepting deposits for baby-sitting while telling her parents it’s the money from work. Kim, unknowingly funding Dani’s arrangement, grows suspicious when she notices the same expensive bracelet Max gave Dani.

Max suddenly gets all the photos Dani sent, drops his phone, and spills coffee on Dani as her mother steps in to calm everyone. Maya later finds Dani near the food table, and the two begin to rekindle their chemistry, though Maya is pulled away again when she’s asked to attend to other guests. Maya’s return is short, and Max asks Dani for reassurance that everything is “good.” Dani convinces herself and him that it’s manageable, even as the emotional friction beneath the surface deepens.

In a private upstairs moment, Max steps away to use the bathroom; Dani follows with a clear, if imperfect, plan, but Max ultimately walks away instead of resuming intimacy. Upset, Dani steps outside and finds Maya smoking by the side of the house. The two admit they miss each other and share a passionate kiss. Dani—able to eat again—rejoins Max and Kim and engages in a measured, almost clinical conversation, probing about Kim and Max’s relationship and hinting that Max uses the couple’s vacant SoHo apartment as a bachelor pad.

Meanwhile, Maya discovers Dani’s phone in the bathroom and reads the notifications from the sugar‑baby app. Dani realizes her phone is missing and turns to Maya for help, but the moment is interrupted as Maya heads downstairs to the food table. A wave of panic passes through Dani as she sees people move around with plates shoved full of food, and she realizes she’s vulnerable to exposure.

The gathering shifts as the family and guests prepare to say Kaddish; Rose screams, a sound Kim quickly rescues her from, pulling her away. Afterward, Max confronts Dani in the kitchen, and Dani suggests that ending the arrangement would prevent Kim from losing money—an argument that lands with a certain cold practicality. Kim then takes the baby and urges the family to go home.

Kim returns Dani’s phone and forces her to hold Rose, insisting that Dani must be able to babysit. Max steps in, trying to take the baby from Dani against Kim’s wishes, which knocks a vase and some sacred books to the floor. Overwhelmed, Dani breaks down on the kitchen floor while her mother and Maya offer comfort. Debbie quickly proposes using the excuse of helping an elderly attendee to the car as a way to leave, and Maya and Dani reconnect as they carry food outside.

The ride home becomes a chaotic, crowded affair in Joel’s van, with Rose shrieking as Joel fumbles for his keys. In the back, Maya and Dani hold hands and share a quiet, relieved smile, a sign of something unresolved but real simmering beneath the surface. The day ends with a complicated mix of affection, obligation, and recovery, leaving Dani and Maya to linger on a connection that survived the day’s upheaval even as Dani steps back into the world she navigates—fragile, hopeful, and suddenly more aware of the choices ahead.