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Eden (Glazer) and Dawn (Michelle Buteau) have been besties since childhood. They fit the mold of most enduring friendships: Eden’s the free spirit who loosens up Dawn, and Dawn’s the voice of reason and maturity when things go too far afield. They’re as thick as thieves; not even Dawn’s marriage to Marty (Hasan Minhaj) and subsequent move to a different part of New York City has weakened the bond of sisterhood the two share.
When “Babes” opens, Eden has travelled “115 minutes and four trains” to Dawn for their traditional Thanksgiving movie and dinner. Never mind that Dawn is nine months pregnant with her second kid and could go into labor any minute. Adlon builds suspense by revealing how close Dawn is to giving birth, and how that will still not prevent her from finishing her meal.
Eden, meanwhile, provides a play-by-play of Dawn’s labor, using colorful, body-related phrases too filthy (and accurate) to quote in a family newspaper. This entire first act runs longer than you’d expect and is even more absurd than you think. It ends not just with a birth, but with a New York City MTA meet-cute: After spending $457.53 on a celebratory sushi dinner Dawn can’t eat, Eden finds herself sharing it on subway seats with sexy, sensitive Claude (Stephan James).
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The two travelers discover they have a lot in common, starting with the progression of trains they have to take (“2 to the 7 to the G to the M”) to get home. They also have never had unprotected sex before. Since Eden is on her period, she assumes she can’t get pregnant if they sleep together. Their one-night stand proves her theory wrong.
“[Expletive], you were in the same health class I was,” Dawn yells when Eden reveals her erroneous thoughts on how people can get pregnant.
Always in the older sister role, Dawn takes Eden under her wing and to her acerbic obstetrician, Dr. Morris (John Carroll Lynch), for counseling. Unlike far too many American films, “Babes” isn’t afraid to say the word “abortion,” nor is it unwilling to reject that option. After Claude suddenly dies, Eden decides to keep her baby.
This decision is a surprise to Dawn, who has to reconcile her unwavering support with her belief that Eden is too immature to be a parent. After all, Eden plans to turn her delivery into the senior prom she never had, complete with balloons and a prom dress.
From here, “Babes” dives headfirst into the trials and tribulations of pregnancy and birth, focusing on just how funny the gruesomeness of the human body can be. Pregnancy becomes a movie genre hybrid of two parts comedy and three parts body horror.
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Still, the friendship between Dawn and Eden remains center stage, complete with the expected break-up and last-minute reconciliation. At its heart, this is a film about sisterhood.
What surprised me most were the moments of slapstick comedy involving pregnant characters, something I can’t recall ever seeing before. At times, Glazer and Buteau throw themselves around with reckless abandon, which only adds to their impressive comedic performances.
“Babes” is Glazer and Buteau’s show, but the film doesn’t ignore its male characters. Minhaj is very sweet and supportive — his character understands how strong his wife’s bond is with her friend, even when Eden is at her worst. James makes the most of his extended cameo, oozing movie-star appeal in his few scenes.
And Lynch, whose combover is a character all its own, steals every scene he’s in with a grumpy bedside manner that barely hides his empathy for his patients.
I’ll be honest: I heard a lot of men groaning at my screening of “Babes.” Their reactions were almost as funny as what was onscreen. Adlon and company have made a film that stands in solidarity with anyone who has gone through pregnancy. It normalizes all the gorier elements while playing them for laughs, and takes no pity on those who can’t handle it.
It’s as if the film is saying, “you think this is bad? Try going through it.” I respected that honesty, and the harder I laughed, the more empathy I felt for its characters.
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★★★½
BABES
Directed by Pamela Adlon. Written by Ilana Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz. Starring Ilana Glazer, Michelle Buteau, John Carroll Lynch, Hasan Minhaj, Stephan James. At AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Coolidge Corner Theatre. 109 min. Rated R (nudity, language as blue and fiery as an exploding gender reveal party)
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
