Summary

  • Collider's Perri Nemiroff sat down with the team behind Sorry, Baby at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
  • Sorry, Baby is a drama about a woman before and after a traumatic event, and how she confronts the aftermath.
  • In this interview, writer-director and star Eva Victor and co-stars Naomi Ackie and Lucas Hedges discuss Victor's directorial debut, how she found the courage to tell this story, and how Barry Jenkins was pivotal in her pursuing filmmaking.

Every January, the Sundance Film Festival provides a platform for idiosyncratic voices and creative artists to bring their unique sensibilities to a mass audience, even for an online comedian specializing in 60-second videos like Eva Victor. This year, the comic headed to Park City, Utah to screen their feature directorial debut, Sorry, Baby.

Despite their background in comedy, Victor's new film is a drama following a graduate student-turned-professor, Agnes (Victor), who is wrestling with the effects of trauma. The film tells Agnes' story in a nonlinear fashion that explores her as an individual throughout a five-year span of time, both before and after an act of violence alters her life completely. In addition to Victor, Sorry, Baby stars Naomi Ackie (Blink Twice) and Oscar nominee Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea).

At the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, Collider's Perri Nemiroff sat down with Victor, Ackie, and Hedges to discuss how the world slowing down provided an opportunity for Victor to reflect on the story she wanted to tell. The trio also talks about the first-time director's mentorship from Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, Mufasa: The Lion King), shadowing filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun on I Saw the TV Glow, learning the rhythm on set with one another in scenes, and the uniqueness of what Victor brings to the industry. You can watch the full conversation in the video above, or you can read the transcript below.

Barry Jenkins "Planted the Seed" for Eva Victor's Directorial Debut

"Everyone deserves a Barry Jenkins."

Naomi Ackie, Lucas Hedges and Eva Victor pose together at Sundance 2025 for Sorry, Baby
Image by Photagonist

PERRI NEMIROFF: Your movie is something else. Congratulations! Clearly, I know what it's about, but because we're celebrating it at a film festival, our viewers will likely first learn about Sorry, Baby here, so would you mind doing the honors and giving a brief synopsis?

EVA VICTOR: The film is about a person who goes through something really hard, and the aftermath of that, and trying to heal from the pain of that. It’s about that feeling when you're stuck, and you see the people you love moving on, and you are stuck in place trying to make sense of what's gone down.

Many questions about writing this script, beginning with something I was reading in the press notes. You mention that you tried to write about these ideas years ago and had a tough time doing it then. Why was that the case, and what happened that gave you the courage and the ability to write it when you did?

VICTOR: During COVID, everything around me really slowed down. I was in a TV show, and we had to stop shooting, and I just had all this time to watch films as an escape, but also to process. I put myself in a cabin in Maine with my cat and just decided, “Let's just put it to paper.” It was time. I had imagined bits of it and written bits of it, but I didn't understand the vehicle in which it was supposed to live, so the bits didn't make any sense to me yet.

Then, finally, I had the time and the space to really think about, structurally, how I want this to work, and how I want the film itself to support the idea of trying to heal in its structure. Then, finally, when that made sense to me, I was able to really write it. It was also that I didn't really know I was writing a whole feature as I was doing it. It was just one of those things where I had to take it down and make sense of it later. I think the world slowing down and time with myself [made me] realize, “I'm good. I can make sense of this and fictionalize things, and write a whole story that's fictional on its own, out of pain, and also find humor in it along the way."

The structure works exceptionally well!

You said time, but you also said your cat. I love being surrounded by my animals. They make me feel warm and comfortable. What is it about your cat that puts you in the right headspace to write?

VICTOR: My cat is made of stars. He's this amazing eight-year-old guy who just is constantly living in truth. He wants food and he wants love, and he wants to sleep in my arms. There is nothing like that. He doesn't talk, so I don't talk to him much. We just look at each other, and we're like, “It's you.”

What's his name? I just have to put a name to the idea.

VICTOR: Clyde. He's in my hotel room right now. Come visit!

I keep saying I can't get a pet because I can't travel with a pet. Maybe I should rethink this!

VICTOR: You can do anything. I brought him to Paris once. He did not like that!

There's one collaboration I really wanted to ask you about because I just talked to him recently, and I love that he's making his own films but also producing for others and elevating newer voices in this industry. It's Barry Jenkins. What is something about the way he operates as a support system and a producer that teed you up for success and helped you make this movie the way you wanted?

VICTOR: He is energetically incredibly high. He operates on a very high frequency, so he's incredibly optimistic. He's incredibly thoughtful. He's this combination of cheerleader and serious genius. He just can drop in and talk to you about the most intense, powerful, profound thought and then leave the room and grab a snack on the way. He just is completely in. He was the one who planted the seed in my head that I could be a filmmaker because he had seen my videos, and he was like, “You're directing. Whether you know it or not, this is directing. These are the pieces of it that you would have to do on a bigger scale.” His belief in me has been incredible. It's been the thing that has led me to this, so I'm really grateful. Everyone deserves a Barry Jenkins.

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I do have a burning question about what happened before you went into principal photography. I was reading that while prepping to film this, you shot two scenes in a practice shoot. What were those scenes, and why did you choose them to practice with?

VICTOR: I'll tell you the scenes after people have seen it. One of them I was incredibly nervous to act, and one of them I wasn't sure how I wanted to direct. They are two scenes of these two characters because this was the most important thing to figure out in the film, Agnes and Lydie. In the way that I just talked about Barry's energy, Pastel set me up, too. They produced a two-day practice shoot a year before we shot the film with my DP, where we got to shoot two scenes. I went through the editing process with an amazing editor, Kate Brokaw, and she was basically like, “So the pieces you're missing are these. You didn't shoot them, so we can't move.” It was just a dream lesson. It was like a mini film school moment. They, for a year, were like, "The script is ready. It's just about getting you comfortable to direct. What do you need?" So, we did that. I shadowed a friend's film.

Oh, I Saw the TV Glow!

VICTOR: Yes, I shadowed it! I was there!

You should wear that as a badge of honor! A lot of people walked away from 2024 calling that their favorite film, and it made me very happy.

VICTOR: I understand why. Jane [Schoenbrun] has been an incredible friend and mentor, and it was a true gift to be on that set. Also, to shadow a set is amazing because you don't have a job there. You actually can learn. It's crazy. That was amazing. Thank you to everyone there.

11:24
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Naomi Ackie and Lucas Hedges Were Directed Through Scene Work

"It's like following the leader a little bit."

Agnes (Eva Victor) holding up a kitten in Sorry, Baby
Image via Sundance Institute

One of the things that struck me most about this movie is how literally the second I see you two share the screen with Eva, you feel so in sync. The cadence is immediately there, and I can feel the history between your characters even though I've only spent mere minutes with them. Do you remember the very first thing you did on set that signaled to you, "This vibe is going to work. We have something special here?"

NAOMI ACKIE: For one, I came in so confident, which is not actually that common for me. I felt like I already knew what we could do.

VICTOR: We had a vibe. We just did when we met.

ACKIE: It's really fun when you just meet someone like that anyway, just in life, and you're just like, “Oh, let's go for coffee. Let's be friends.” Creatively, I was like, “Somehow, this makes sense," and you just don't even question it. The first scene we did was at the frozen lake. You've got the normal every day, first-day jitters, but there was something instantly warm about the set and something very supportive. I feel like we were all really aware that [with] Eva, this was their first thing and to be supportive of that. We held the space, and you held the space, and we had fun within that. After day one, I was like, “Yeah, I knew it. It's going to be a really fun, healing, creative time.”

LUCAS HEDGES: The one that comes to mind for me is not an early experience, but actually, I think it was maybe even the last night, which was we were doing this scene, and we were doing a lot of takes, and I think it was going fine, but you gave me such a great note, which is, “Just way overdo it. Do it 110%.” And it was easily the best take. I was safe. The more I did, the more you seemed happy. You know what I mean? I didn't need to do any bullshit tricks. I learned a lot from this movie for that reason.

I even had a dream. I was telling Eva this the other day that I had a dream where Eva came to me in the dream and was helping me digest that lesson and to carry it forward in my next job. Like, you have to be free to commit fully, and—it's so obvious—really make a fool of yourself. I was just very grateful for that lesson. That was one of the biggest things I took from this experience.

Lucas, you put this in my brain, and I don't know if this actually happened here, but one of the things that fascinates me most about a director who is also acting in their movie is that they can give you notes through their performance. Do you remember a time on set when that happened and how it inspired you to adjust in an unexpected way?

VICTOR: There were a couple of scenes I wasn't in, and I found it really difficult after having been in scenes of, like, "Oh, I'm actually just going to energetically shift this a bit to surprise someone." Then, there was an interesting thing of when I wasn't in a scene, these two people had this bond, and I was trying to figure out how to be like, “We're all in it. No, we are!” It was a completely different experience trying to direct someone when I honestly don't have their trust of, "We've done the scene. We are in it in this kind of scary, safe way."

ACKIE: I can't think of anything that was standout, but it’s a rhythm thing. I remember you doing it in one standalone moment. It was like, “Oh, she's on this kind of tone. Oh, okay, playful.” It's like following the leader a little bit until you kind of get the gist of it. Then, by take three, take five, you start to sink into what the rhythm of the scene is.

VICTOR: They're both like the best actors in the world, so I was blessed. They can do everything with heart, and they're so funny. I think the thing of 110%, it was like, you're [Hedges] so funny, and you're the part of the film that's like, “Thank god there's someone trying their fucking best to just be sweet.” Every time you made it bigger, it was just a relief to the film to have those moments of air and joy.

Eva Victor Is a Unique Voice for Future Filmmaking

"We're ignited by the uniqueness of the voice."

Naomi Ackie, Lucas Hedges and Eva Victor pose together with Perri Nemiroff at Sundance 2025 for Sorry, Baby
Image by Photagonist

I hope it's already clear, but I think Eva does an exceptional job, and I know you're going to go on to write, direct, and star in many, many more films. Naomi and Luca, what is something about Eva as a scene partner, a director and a leader on set that you are excited for more of her collaborators to get to experience in the future?

ACKIE: I think the biggest thing for me that I was blown away by is Eva's openness. You were so receptive and open to everyone's energy. I said this earlier, but watching you grow into yourself, I'm so excited for other collaborators to see her as this really embodied leader, which you are. It was so powerful. It was super powerful. I can’t wait, even if I’m not in them.

HEDGES: What I love so much about the script is that it reminded me of things I loved, but it also felt like its own thing. What I'm excited about is the sheer uniqueness of Eva’s voice and the fact that we need people who are different through their own talent and their brilliance. It's not the fact that they're different, that we're like going, “Oh, this person is so different.” We're ignited by the uniqueness of the voice, and I think we just need more artists who are themselves and true and honest. Not even just honest—you're different. You know what I mean?

VICTOR: I hear you! I mean, look at this. I’m so lucky!

It's a beautiful way to articulate that.

I just made them give you flowers, but now I'm going to make you do it for yourself. In this industry, we give each other awards, and that's super cool. We should keep doing that. But I find that nobody tells themselves “good job” as much as they should. I want to know something you accomplished making Sorry, Baby that you know you'll always be able to look back on and say, “You know what? I am really proud of what I did there?"

VICTOR: Thank you for the question. I think the thing I feel really proud of is taking a really violent thing and finding a way to eventually move through it with as much love as I could and finding ways to have as much empathy as I could and can. I feel grateful to not have experienced violence and then been violent in response. I feel grateful to have found a way through it with making a film. It has truly been the honor of my life. Thus far!

Many, many more to come. Again, sincerely, congratulations on this one. Exceptional work across the board.

VICTOR: Thank you so much. You got my tears going, thank you!

Special thanks to our 2025 partners at Sundance including presenting partner Rendezvous Capital and supporting partners Sommsation, The Wine Company, Hendrick’s Gin, neaū water, and Roxstar Entertainment.

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Sorry, Baby
Release Date
January 27, 2025
Runtime
104 minutes
Director
Eva Victor
Writers
Eva Victor
Producers
Alex Orlovsky, Michael B. Clark, Adele Romanski, Barry Jenkins, Duncan Montgomery, Carole Baraton, Jack Selby, Lia Buman, Tim Headington, Alex Turtletaub, Mark Ceryak, Neil Shah, Ana Leocha
  • Cast Placeholder Image
    Eva Victor
    Agnes
  • instar53374986.jpg
    Naomi Ackie