The relationship between lifelong friends is tested after one of them gets pregnant after a one-night stand in Babes. After helping her childhood best friend Dawn (Michele Buteau) with the birth of her second child, Eden (Ilana Glazer) meets charming stranger Claude (Stephan James) on the subway ride home. The two end up having an unprotected one-night stand and Eden soon discovers that she is pregnant. Initially, Dawn is quite supportive of Eden, accompanying her to her appointments with Dr. Morris (John Carroll Lynch), but she and her husband Marty (Hasan Minhaj) soon find themselves swamped by the stresses of having two young kids, especially after their oldest Tommy (Caleb Mermelstein-Knox) begins acting out. This ends up causing major strain on the lifelong relationship between Eden and Dawn.
Babes Synopsis
Babes is the feature directorial debut from actor Pamela Adlon (Californication, Louie) and is co-written by and starring comedian Ilana Glazer (Rough Night, Broad City, The Afterparty), based on her own experiences becoming a first-time mother. The plot of the film is a mix of raunchy comedy and heartfelt drama.
At the core of the story of Babes is the friendship between Glazer’s protagonist Eden and her childhood best friend Dawn, played by Michele Buteau (Survival of the Thickest). The relationship between the two has already affected Dawn having moved to the upper west side of New York City, resulting in a lengthy commute by Eden whether they want to get together. However, the combined stress of Eden’s pregnancy and Dawn’s family life ends up putting this lifelong friendship to the test.
My Thoughts on Babes
Probably the most apt description of Babes is the film is a chick flick with an edge. Much of the comedy of the film involves raunchy gross-out gags, such as shroom-fueled lactation hallucinations or joking that nobody tells you about the placenta. However, the film provides some commentary comparing the lives of Eden as a single woman with Dawn as a much more stressed married woman with two kids.
The most obvious comparison to Babes would probably be the films of Judd Apatow, who wrote, produced and directed the similarly raunchy 2007 pregnancy comedy Knocked Up and also produced Paul Feig’s 2011 film Bridesmaids, which Babes is getting the most comparison to. However, Babes differs from the fact that the film is driven entirely by women in front of and behind the family. The film is primarily the brainchild of Ilana Glazer, who wrote Babes with her writing partner Josh Rabinowitz. Glazer is also one of the producers of the film with Pamela Adlon making her debut behind the camera as the film’s director.
However, the men in the cast of Babes still get their time to shine, particularly comedian Hasan Minhaj as Dawn’s husband Marty. Babes also features a running gag of John Carroll Lynch’s Dr. Marty sporting different hairstyles throughout the film and Oliver Platt makes a brief appearance as Eden’s father Bernie. Then there’s Stephan James (If Beale Street Could Talk) as Eden’s one-night stand Claude, who leaves an impression, despite only having a couple of scenes in the film.
Altogether, Babes is a cute film that is perfectly suited for a girl’s night out.