Babes is the 2024 comedy film debuting as a feature directorial work of the renowned actress and producer Pamela Adlon. With the screenplay being developed by Ilana Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz, the film ventures into the chaos and absurdity of modern-day motherhood through earnestly amicable female relationships. Babes is a heartfelt journey through pregnancy and parenthood, wisdom-glinted through the sharp honesty of relationships and how they evolve rather harshly with life’s curveballs. The starring cast comprises of Glazer alongside Michelle Buteau.
Synopsis
Located in New York City, the film features Eden, a selfassured and sassy 30 something woman enjoying the child-free single life. Everything changes when Eden gets pregnant after an emotionally jarring one-night stand with Claude, a man she met on the spur. The most shocking aspect is that Eden thought she had no hopes of getting pregnant due to what was assumed chronic infertility.
To make matters worse, Claude dies shortly after their meeting, leaving Eden not just pregnant, but also contemplating the harsh reality of raising a child alone with no support from the father. In disbelief, terrified, and confused, she turns to Dawn herself, her best friend and a married mother of two living in Brooklyn for solace and direction.
Since early childhood, God has blessed Dawn and Eden with an unbreakable bond, and throughout the years, the duo have endured as a result of shared history, emotional vulnerability, countless best friend inside jokes, and most importantly, enduring truthfulness. As it stands, it has become rather evident that no matter how ecstatic someone may be over the prospect of a newborn, including Eden and her spouse, she and her pregnancy are bound to test the waters of the bond shared between her and her friend, and in ways no one could perceive. Frankly acknowledging the bleak picture, at the forefront of this dynamic lie flags and wrinkles misleadingly representing “a loving friendship.” The mother with a family so radically is bound to get overwhelmed with husband issues which does get incredibly hard to relate to the tension heavy with anxiety unleashed by this so-called unconventional reality. In any case, the duo still manage to balance their love and helps in striding with confronting the withering view of unconditional support in the transparent world, entwining along the true essence of femininity, motherhood, friendship, identity, and the new beating worlds of friendship.
Eden’s experiences with prenatal care and birthing classes range from the shred of surreal to the downright comical, and the unsolicited parenting tips Eden receives are no less cringeworthy. Eden contemplates the desire to perpetuate her identity alongside her wish to care for the child, if she ever becomes one, and evaluate what self-sacrificing motherhood translates to.
The emotional high point comes when Eden is in labor, and her daughter is to be named Claudette in honor of Claude. Dawn, who has been with her since the start of the pregnancy, supports her throughout, marking the enduring sisterhood and profound emotional attachment of the two women. The moment, filled with tears, disorder, and confusion is ultimately one that celebrates achievement, nurturing alongside personal development.
Cast & Characters
Ilana Glazer as Eden: Glazer captures the wrecking yet tender nature of becoming a parent with an utterly autonomous woman with indomitable rawness that transforms motherhood into her deepest self. It is a performance that offers unfiltered, humorous take on contradictory millennial womanhood.
Michelle Buteau as Dawn: A mother who balances family life with friendship and is perpetually trying to support her best friend. Warm, powerful, and humorous, Buteau embodies the essence of loyalty and obligation.
Stephan James as Claude: Even though Claude doesn’t appear on screen for long, his character lingers as Eden grapples with grief, guilt, and burgeoning responsibility.
Hasan Minhaj as Marty: Dawn’s husband and devoted partner who brings laughter and deep emotion to the film, serving as comic relief while also grounding the story.
John Carroll Lynch as Dr. Morris: Eden’s calm yet quirky OB-GYN blends levity with professional wisdom as he helps her manage the complexities of caring for her pregnancy.
Sandra Bernhard as Dr. Shirley: A warm but somewhat unorthodox comedian who specializes in unconventional humor and equally untraditional advice.
Oliver Platt as Bernie: A humorous neighbor of Eden’s, warms the heart with small acts of thoughtfulness.
Kenny Lucas and Keith Lucas as Benny and Bobby: Twin brothers who inject a dose of chaos as Eden’s life journey unfolds.
Direction and Style
Pamela Adlon, who won an Emmy for her work in television, makes her feature film debut with Babes. Her direction is engrossing, pacing the film with breath and space to move while capturing the rhythm of comedy, ensuring that no momentum is lost. Intimacy and chaos simultaneously mark the emotion of near-birth, which is captured with handheld and close-up shots.
Ilana Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz’s taut and polished screenplay is packed with razor-sharp witticisms and observational humor, paired with sincere moments that never cross into sentimentality. The female leads are not portrayed as archetypes or vessels to drive forward moral tales; rather, they are complete human beings—deeply flawed, hilarious, and unabashedly authentic.
Themes
At its core, Babes is about transformation. The changeable framework of motherhood is shown through the eyes of someone like Eden. She is fun, single, and by no means maternal. The film steers clear of easy solutions. Instead, it suggests that love, effort, and community matter far more than conforming to a rigid structure.
The movie captures some of the most hidden pressure points between friends traversing divergent journeys in life. While Eden sets out on her solo parenthood voyage, Dawn is torn between feeling the urge to help and yet feeling distanced. This internal conflict is rooted in emotional realism and serves as the fulcrum of drama in Babes.
Dawn, alongside other characters, balances elements like motherhood, friendship, reproductive choice, grief, and contemporary familial structures in a manner that is both sensible and comical. It is apparent that the movie does not shy away from the chaotic beauty of parenting; instead, it embraces it fully.
Reception and Legacy
At the 2024 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, Babes received an overwhelmingly positive reception. The film was praised for being hysterically funny while also managing to evoke deep sentiments. The relationship between Glazer and Buteau received a lot of attention, as did the film’s contemporary exploration of motherhood.
The film was published on May 17, 2024, and gained instant popularity among Gen Z and millennial audiences. Viewers admired the film’s brutal honesty, relatability, and fresh angle on friendship. Many reviewers agreed that the film’s narrative seemed episodic at times, but discussed its strong messages and moving performances.
Conclusion
Baby Boom is not simply a comedy revolving around pregnancy. It’s a reflection on the ways in which life’s surprises can simultaneously nurture, burden, and modify connections. It tackles contemporary womanhood and motherhood, eliciting both laughter and sympathy while blending them with sharp social commentary, balancing hilarity with profound femininity, allowing it to claim its niche in the genre where fiction attempts to capture the maelstrom of adulthood. Through Eden’s experiences in the film, we are reminded that motherhood, like friendship, can be many things and is definitely not cookie-cutter.
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