The most acclaimed film of Sundance 2025 has been picked up for U.S. distribution, no doubt an awards campaign will be mounted for it by the fall.
Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, Eva Victor’s tragi-comic debut, “Sorry Baby,” has been sold to indie powerhouse A24 for $8M. This is one of the few and significant sells of this year’s lacklustre Sundance.
A IndieWire source says bidding was “incredibly competitive” for Victor’s film. Why then was it sold for only $8M? A fraction of what “Train Dreams” ($16M, Netflix) and “Together” ($17M, Neon) were nabbed for.
I’ve seen “Sorry, Baby,” and although I found it to be a strongly evocative debut for Victor, herself a social media star and comedian, I don’t entirely buy the hype behind this film. That 88 on Metacritic is over-the-top, and so are some of the X posts you’ve seen calling it a “masterpiece.”
In the film, Victor plays Agnes, a sexual assault victim who can’t seem to brush off the scarring incident, even as “life goes on,” and her dream to become a university professor turns into a reality.
The film, shot with an astute eye for comic detail by Victor, is filled with the quirks and story beats that have turned the token “Sundance movie” into its own cliche. Yet, Victor does bypass these cliches with the kind of wit, and wisdom, that doesn’t always come with #MeToo movies.
No word yet on when “Sorry, Baby” will get released, but A24 no doubt has big plans eyed for this film in the fall.