The Babes Trailer Teases What Critics Are Calling The 'Bridesmaids Of Babymaking'
Motherhood is a challenging, stressful and inherently messy experience. Very messy. It's a wild carnival of bodily fluids: poop, pee, puke and, well, female excretions that a male such as myself has no business discussing in graphic detail. I understand and salute the multitude of sacrifices women make when they choose to carry, deliver and raise a child, and I know good and goddamn well when to keep my mouth shut about this topic — which is just about 100-percent of the time (other than to say "Yes," "I understand," and "You're right").
As someone who believes films can be amazing empathy machines (the recent trend of abortion road trip movies has been a stark revelation for me), I do wish there were more movies that depicted in unvarnished detail the conception-to-delivery process without feeling obliged to give equal time or thereabouts to the male perspective. This is especially true of comedies. I adore "Juno" and "Knocked Up," but these films are looking to cover the entire male-female gamut of pregnancy. That I can, off the top of my head, think of two comedies that are almost explicitly about men dealing with child bearing — "Nine Months" and the Schwarzenegger-gets-a-bun-in-the-oven non-classic "Junior" — is not good!
Where are the movies by women, foregrounding women, yet for everyone about pregnancy? At long last, writer-director Pamela Adlon's got us covered with what appears to be a heartfelt raunch-fest for the ages in "Babes." Take a look at the just-released trailer, and tell me I'm wrong.
Pregnancy in all its tumultuous glory
Here's the official synopsis for "Babes" from NEON:
"'Babes' follows inseparable childhood best friends Eden (lana Glazer) and Dawn (Michelle Buteau), having grown up together in NYC, now firmly in different phases of adulthood.
When carefree and single Eden decides to have a baby on her own after a one-night stand, their friendship faces its greatest challenge. 'Babes' delves into the complexities of female friendship with a blend of laughter, tears, and labor pains.
From co-writers Ilana Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz and directed by Pamela Adion, 'Babes' is a hilarious and heartfelt comedy about the bonds of friendship and the messy, unpredictable challenges of adulthood and becoming a parent."
I have yet to see "Babes," but Adlon's film received raves at last month's SXSW Film Festival (it's currently sporting a 100-percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes). According to /Film's Jacob Hall, who's one of the film's many admirers, the film is a bluntly hilarious collaboration between Adlon (whose FX series "Better Things" was a fearlessly funny account of profoundly messed-up people) and "Broad City" co-creator Ilana Glazer (who co-wrote the screenplay).
This excerpt from Hall's review has me sold:
"It's the proudly feminist, absolutely filthy equivalent of that shot from 'Predator' where the musclebound hands grip each other and shine with sweat. Emphasis on the sweat. Because bodily fluids, of course."
And there's no way I'm missing a film with a cast that boasts stand-up sensation Michelle Buteau, John Carroll Lynch, Oliver Platt and Sandra Bernhard.
"Babes" hits theaters on May 17, 2024.