Babes

The difficulty of navigating newfound parenthood has served as the basis for many a big-screen comedy; be it the Three Men and a Baby franchise or yuppie classic Mr Mom, such farcical fodder is typically reserved for men. Women, Hollywood has routinely told us, are natural nurturers and thus not apt leads for madcap parenting comedies. Think again.

Pamela Adlon’s directorial debut, Babes, is a fresh take on a familiar format. Ilana Glazer, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Josh Rabinowitz, stars as Eden, a 30-something yoga instructor living her best single life in New York. She acts as an emotional support partner and hype girl for her BFF, Dawn (Michelle Buteau), who’s just welcomed her second child. After a one-night stand with Claude (Stephan James), a handsome extra in a Martin Scorsese film, Eden discovers that her supposedly pregnancy-proof plan of period sex isn’t quite so reliable.

It’s a refreshingly forthright depiction of pregnancy and millennial parenthood, particularly the ways in which becoming a mother effectively alters interpersonal relationships. There are plenty of matter-of-fact discussions about the female body, as Dawn grapples with spontaneous lactation and Eden comes to terms with the unexpected gastrointestinal side effects of pregnancy. Glazer and Rabinowitz’s emphasis on demystifying dialogue is a much-needed antidote to the typical Hollywood approach to female anatomy, in which body parts exist solely as vessels for male pleasure. Each character is well-written and three-dimensional, including those whose appearances are fleeting. The Lucas Brothers, for instance, make a memorable cameo as caring, albeit somewhat socially inept, STI clinicians.

Though some of the jokes fall flat and the film languishes a bit around the halfway point, Glazer and Buteau’s effortless onscreen chemistry and Adlon’s delightful direction nevertheless make this a thoroughly enjoyable watch. Babes is a charming film, which, much like Eden’s baby bump, grows on you over time.

Antonia Georgiou

Babes is released nationwide on 9^th August 2024.

Watch the trailer for Babes here: