Director: Sebastian Silva
Cast: Sebastian Silva, Tunde Adebimpe, Kristen Wiig, Agustin Silva, Reg E. Cathey, Mark Margolis
Certificate: Yet to be Determined
Running Time: 100 minutes
Synopsis: A male couple (Sebastian Silva/Adebimpe) and their female friend (Wiig) decide to have a baby together while one of the men works on an art project in which he acts like a baby.
Sebastian Silva made a few waves with his excellent second feature The Maid back in 2009. Since then he has travelled down a quirky path of very different and unique films, including his last effort, the 2013 misfire Magic Magic which starred Michael Cera, Juno Temple, and Emily Browning. Nasty Baby could be described as a return to form, but it is also a very peculiar feature that completely switches itself around in terms of tone and focus within the final third.
Lack of confidence is something Silva can never be accused of suffering from, and so here he steps into the lead role of Freddy. A man hoping to have a child with his best friend Polly, played by Kristin Wiig is a refreshingly understated performance of true warmth. Upon finding out that he has slow sperm, it falls upon his partner Mo (Adebimpe) to offer the required donation of bodily fluid. From there we have a sweet triangle of genuine chemistry and charm. The film tackles alternative families in a very calm and relatable way.
Shot handheld with very naturalistic lighting and free flowing dialogue that echoes real life, the film is reminiscent of a documentary when it first begins. This plays in nicely with its independent comedy tone, and also aids us in connecting with the drama unfolding. It also makes certain character traits more forgiving. Freddy is an excellent character as he is so hypocritical, but fails to see his flaws. As a gay man we would assume he is very understanding and not so judgemental, but his treatment of a local man, The Bishop (Cathey), who obviously has a form of mental illness or learning disability, show him to be fairly cruel and narrow minded. His reaction to a pretentious art critics way of selecting pieces for a show is also hypocritical in that Freddy’s own art piece, in which he and friends act like babies, is quite silly and pompous itself.
It’s always a brave script that can highlight such imperfections, and it’s always a talented director that can make such characters not entirely unlikable. Nasty Baby’s main talking point will be the final act though. Not giving too much away, it becomes a dark and sinister film that borrows from the likes of the Coen Brothers. The change is sudden and clunky, but it’s exactly how it would transpire in real life. Life isn’t a genre where each day will be similar in tone and events, one moment you’re arranging to start an unorthodox family, and the next you find yourself in a twisted Film Noir. It shocks, and will certainly upset those who were loving the ride up until that point, but it also makes it something real and unique.
Nasty Baby reviewed by Luke Ryan Baldock, June 2015.
Nasty Baby screens at BFI London Film Festival on the 13th and 15th of October 2015.
