Nasty Baby

Nasty Baby is a 2015 Chilean-American drama film written and directed by Sebastián Silva and starring Kristen Wiig, Silva, and Tunde Adebimpe alongside Reg E. Cathey, Mark Margolis, Agustín Silva, Alia Shawkat, Lillias White, and Anthony Chisholm.

The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was screened in the Panorama section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival, where it was named winner of the Teddy Award for best LGBT-themed feature film.

The film was released on October 23, 2015, in a limited release, before being released on video on demand on October 30, 2015, by The Orchard.

Plot
The film centers on Freddy and Mo, a gay couple trying to have a baby with the help of their friend Polly. Freddy is a South American performance artist who is attempting to make a short film entitled Nasty Baby which features himself portraying a screaming infant. Freddy's sperm count is too low causing every attempt with Polly to fail. Mo is reluctant to be the donor but eventually concedes, and Polly successfully gets pregnant. Throughout the film the trio are plagued by a mentally ill vagrant called The Bishop. Polly and Freddy make the mistake of initially being friendly to him, but he is aggressively homophobic and gives Polly unwanted attention. One evening he assaults Polly, and the next morning a policewoman intervenes. This only worsens the situation, and ultimately The Bishop follows Freddy home the same evening his performance art piece is rejected. The Bishop assaults Freddy with a rock while verbally attacking him with homophobic slurs, and in self-defense Freddy swings a six pack of beer at The Bishop's head, badly wounding him. Freddy carries The Bishop up the stairs of his apartment, remorseful and wanting to help, but The Bishop attacks Freddy with a kitchen knife and Freddy kills him in self-defense. Realizing Freddy could be deported because of this, and with Polly pregnant, the trio (with the help of several other friends) take the body to the woods and burn it.

Cast

 Kristen Wiig as Polly
 Sebastián Silva as Freddy
 Tunde Adebimpe as Mo
 Reg E. Cathey as The Bishop
 Mark Margolis as Richard
 Agustín Silva as Chino
 Alia Shawkat as Wendy
 Lillias White as Cecilia
 Anthony Chisholm as David, Mo's father
 Constance Shulman as The Bishop's girlfriend
 Neal Huff as Gallery owner
 Judy Marte as Battered woman
 Cara Seymour as Nosy neighbor

Production
On August 14, 2013, it was announced Kristen Wiig was in talks to join the film, and that Sebastian Silva would direct the film as well as star alongside Tunde Adebimpe.

Principal photography took place in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York City.

Release
The film was originally rejected by Toronto International Film Festival in 2014, since the festival did not like the film's ending. The film instead had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2015. Shortly after it was announced The Orchard had acquired distribution rights to the film.

The film was released in a limited release on October 23, 2015, before being released on video on demand on October 30, 2015.

Critical reception
The film holds a 66% score on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The critical consensus reads "Nasty Baby juggles an ambitious array of tones, and not always successfully -- but its talented cast and surprising narrative twists leave a lingering impression." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 64 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Writing for The A.V. Club, Mike D'Angelo gave the film a C for its plodding pacing and the abrupt third act which "neither emerges organically from the skeletal narrative nor thematically dovetails with the other storylines in any way" but praised Wiig's performance.

See also
 List of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender-related films of 2015

References

External links
 
 
 
 

Category:2015 films
Category:2010s drama films
Category:2010s LGBT-related films
Category:American films
Category:American drama films
Category:American independent films
Category:American LGBT-related films
Category:Chilean films
Category:Chilean drama films
Category:Chilean independent films
Category:Chilean LGBT-related films
Category:English-language films
Category:Spanish-language films
Category:Films set in New York City
Category:Films shot in New York City
Category:LGBT-related drama films
Category:Films produced by Christine Vachon
Category:Killer Films films
Category:The Orchard films