Babes is a comedy-drama film exploring themes of female friendship, solo pregnancies, and womanhood in all of its raw forms. This film marks the debut feature of Pamela Adlon, who co-writes and stars alongside Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau with Josh Rabinowitz. Set against the backdrop of New York City, the film tackles the bittersweet complexities of personal growth, evolving relationships, and life’s unpredictable twists and turns.
Plot Summary
Childhood best friends Eden (Ilana Glazer) and Dawn (Michelle Buteau) share everything and support each other through adult life, seasoned with unlimited inside jokes. However, as they grow older with responsibilities, their lives begin to change.
Dawn is a practicing dentist who lives in Manhattan with her husband and two small children. She juggles work and the chaos of motherhood with ongoing emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, Eden teaches yoga in Queens, lives single and childless, and describes herself as thriving—embracing a freer lifestyle.
Matters worsen for Eden after a one-night stand with a stranger named Claude when she learns she is expecting a child. With no intentions of a partner, Eden opts to raise the child single-handedly. She seeks help from Dawn, her friend, believing that their bond will sail through together seamlessly.
Dawn initially supports Eden by offering ‘Expecting Mother’ classes, linking her to doulas, and even throwing a baby shower. However, as Eden becomes increasingly reliant on her, the cracks begin to show. Due to her preexisting overwhelming obligations, Dawn’s refusal to accept the burden of managing her friend’s expectations begins to wear on their relationship.
The movie is raw and captures each of the stages of pregnancy with unabashed honesty, including the emotional turmoil, discomfort, and awkwardness that comes from preparing to welcome life into the world as a single parent. Both give and take in regards to support go to opposite extremes. Eden is blunt and unpredictable, while Dawn strives to meet her friend’s needs at the expense of ignoring her own until the point of imbalance is simply impossible to endure.
Their friendship snaps and the rift deepens when at panic and losing control of her life, Eden suggests they move in together. The recommendation not only amounts to cruelty but catalyzes painful confrontations. Rightly fed up, Dawn finally says what she has been swallowing and states that as much as she loves Eden, she deserves some semblance of grace and support.
As the date of her childbirth approaches, Eden and her friend begin to spend time apart, reflecting on the nature of their companionship. In the film’s emotional climax, Eden gives birth to her daughter Claudette, and Dawn arrives just in time to witness the birth. Their relationship, albeit fundamentally altered, is reaffirmed. It is no longer grounded on the intimacy of childhood, but rather a matured acceptance of distance coupled with profound respect.
Ilana Glazer as Eden
Eden’s role is marked by chaotic wit and a warm self-absorption that marks her as endearing. Glazer does not paint her character blue in the traditional sense. Eden is multifaceted; sometimes lazy and thoughtless, but doing what feels right most of the time.
Michelle Buteau as Dawn
Buteau’s performance as the fatigued but steadfast friend is arguably the most memorable of the film. She depicts Dawn with warmth and sincerity while exercising emotional moderation. Both her quieter moments and her funnier moments add greatly to the narrative. She elucidates the silent battles of underappreciated caregivers stretched beyond their limits.
Hasan Minhaj as Marty
As Dawn’s husband, Marty is supportive and kind, offering subtle comic relief without overshadowing the primary narrative. Dads like him reinforce the notion of emotional labor as not solely a woman’s domain. His efforts to help balance the storyline with realism are commendable.
Stephan James as Claude
Claude, the father of Eden’s baby, is very briefly in the film, but serves as a symbolic turning point for Eden. Their brief coupling initiates an emotional arc for her. His absence post the one-night stand also highlights her decision to take up sole parenthood.
Direction and Tone
Motherhood a vulnerability shaped by Pamela Adlon’s profound understanding drives her directorial vision for the film. Her distinctive mark emerges from her prior work in television, particularly from her semi-autobiographical single parenting series, granting this film a particular grounding and raw tone.
While this movement sythensizes the bustle of new york apartments with yoga studios where edean works transcends the city’s frantic nature. Warm, but without over-polishing, the color palette reflects the characters’ embracing and enduring emotional highs and lows.
Scenes of water breaking, breast pumps, and placental oddities are all humorously crude, but they never feel overdone. These portrayals seek to dismantle the sanitized cinema narrative of motherhood and mainstreamify the physical realties of giving birth.
Themes and Analysis
Female Friendship
At its core, Babes captures the persistent and changing nature of friendship. Eden and Dawn’s bond is imperfect and fraught with exhaustion, resentments, and miscommunication. Yet, through those challenges, the film depicts a picture of enduring friendship that, while not perfect, is remarkable in its unwavering steadfastness.
Motherhood Outside the Traditional Mold
Eden’s choice to raise a child independently disrupts conventional narratives of family. We do not see her story unfold as tragic or heroic; it’s simply her life. The film highlights the fact that families are multi-faceted, and that support among friends can be just as vital as within romantic partnerships.
Emotional Labor and Boundaries
Dawn’s storyline embodies the often-overlooked emotional labor women undertake, not only in the roles of mother and wife, but within female friendships. The film depicts the reality of relationships becoming unbalanced, underscoring that it is acceptable to request distance while also needing space and support in return.
The Physical and Emotional Realities of Pregnancy
Unlike many films that treat pregnancy as a beautiful feat, works like Babes treat head on the uncomfortable truths. There is nothing glamorous here, just honesty, humor, and a lot of bodily fluids. This dose of reality is refreshing and resonates deeply with people who are tired of overly romanticized and softened versions of pregnancy.
Reception and Impact
Babes was richly rewarded for its laughs, heartfelt storytelling, and unique performances. Critics commented on the mastery blend of gross-out comedy and emotional honesty, where laughter was a constant and real thinking also happened.
The audience connected well with the narrative of friendships and solo parenting. Viewers noted that Babes was a less sanitized version of the narrative that they can relate to instead of the version used to sugar coat motherhood.
While some critics pointed out that the film’s first half too relied on shock humor, most agreed that the emotional depth and character growth outweighed the crudeness of the film.
A strong and relatable story of women face friendship’s emotional convolutions, parenting’s disarray, and self-determined pathing is Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau’s masterful telling of Babes. Pamela Adlon provides a deeply funny and painfully real narrative.
Through the cacophony of romanticized and polished depictions of motherhood and friendship, Babes powerfully cuts through, offering a simple life-altering truth: Life is a chaotic mess, and we can traverse it together.
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