In a genre sometimes packed with remade love stories or extravagant action scenes, Babes (2024) is a uniquely refreshing take on comedy because it addresses the changing contours of friendship and motherhood. Its directorial debut was from Pamela Adlon and features stars Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau. The film paints an exuberant, tender, and candid picture of two women experiencing life’s major changes together and individually.
Plot Summary: Friends in Flux
The character of Eden (Ilana Glazer) is a yoga teacher who is free-spirited, living without children and having to deal with changes in her life direction when she gets pregnant after a one-night stand. Her best friend Dawn (Michelle Buteau), meanwhile is a successful mother and dentist. The women, once joined at the hip in their wild adolescent years, are now quite distant from one another.
Eden turns towards her friend Dawn for help who, unlike her friend, is far more practical and older. This gives rise to lots of funny and heartwarming moments in their relationship. Accompanied by some hilarious and brutally honest moments, what unfolds is a journey of personal transformation sparked through the lenses of motherhood, friendship, womanhood, and individualism.
A Modern Perspective on Motherhood
With sharp humor and emotional nuance, Babes navigates modern motherhood at its core. It does not employ the romanticized version of parenthood; it comes off much more realistic. Dawn’s life is deeply chaotic, messy, and full of love and exhaustion all at once. Her children bring her joy, but also a significant amount of stress, and the film captures both aspects perfectly.
Nevertheless, Eden’s perspective offers a different angle, which is how she elects to keep the baby as a single mother. Her decision is not one that comes easy, and the film gives her the ability to grapple with doubt, strong fear, and a sense of empowerment. Her experience is a reality for many women who have to deal with important life changing decisions while not having a partner around, and it is refreshing to see it done in such a honest and compassionate way.
What is unique about this film is the fact it does not accept the idea of pitting motherhood against freedom. Rather, it analyzes the ways in which identity shifts and matures alongside changes in relationships, and showcases the ways in which friendships can withstand and flourish through such transformation.
Friendship in the Foreground
In today’s world, whilst the premise is built around concepts like pregnancy and parenting, Babes is a celebration of women’s friendship. As Eden and Dawn, the emotional anchors of the story, put it, “It’s so bomb and beautiful.” Their connection feels authentic, lively, and chaotic—all at once, in the most beautiful way possible.
They lovingly mock each other, partake in wit-filled banters, work towards supporting one another, and challenge each other’s perspectives actively in ways that can only be described as the gift of a true friend. And when life throws them a curve-ball, it’s their bond that keeps them grounded. The film shows other real-life obstacles as well, like the fact that there is often tension between two people when they are growing (or changing) at different rates or in different directions. And yet, the film manages to make all of viewer’s hopes come true: it makes friendship appear forgiving as well, especially when adequately tended to.
Their ever transforming dynamic is masked with emotions that run deeper than laughter. Instead of a villain, the narrative presents two people trying and failing in front of the viewer, which makes the story more realistic and relatable.
Stellar Performances and Chemistry
Ilana Glazer embodies Eden with her unique mix of punchy humor and emotional soft spots. Undoubtedly, she wonderfully awkward, but also so powerful in a soft understated way. Glazer, with her signature realism, breathes life and beautifully captivates the audience when telling them Eden’s transformative story throughout the film.
Buteau is magnetic as Dawn and deeply captures the beauty, chaos, and contradictions of motherhood. Her trademark humor is ever-present, but the subtler aspects of emotion in the performance are the most powerful. To my mind, that is the most admirable aspect of the role.
The chemistry between Glazer and Buteau is effortless. Their friendship on the screen is the union of comfort and animosity that only years of shared experiences can create. Their relationship is not perfect, but it is authentic, and that captures the audience.
Direction and Tone
Adlon’s touch is clear in how she approaches the film’s tone. Having worked in television focusing on family, identity, and emotion with humor, she applies the same approach in Babes. There is a level of rawness and confidence that explains their direction; it is not based on intensive spectacle, but character-driven.
While the pacing is quite rapid, it almost never feels rushed. Everything is on a different level; there are periods of action and dormant periods, peaks of laughter and crying. The film does not become obsessed with pushing emotion on the audience, which makes it truly unique.
A New York City backdrop, with its overflowing visual energy, provides the perfect combo for what seems to be a modern ‘chaotic’ life. Seamlessly, the soundtrack and the visuals blend together. The soundtracks complement the emotional scenes of the film, with them never being too loud to distract from the movie.
Universal Themes
When talking about what “Babes” covers, there is everything from autonomy, single parenting, to deep seated emotional burnout. And while it may feel as if it is reaching a smart checkmark in virtue signaling, it invites the viewer to view and feel what the characters are experiencing.
The film does wonders to deliver awe-striking messages alongside groundbreaking themes of connection and resilience. The ability to show love, even when you lack the desirable answers, and still believe someone has your back makes the storyline powerful and resonates especially strong in today’s climate.
Conclusion
An emotional core that stems from friendship and identity allows “Babes” to capture how it feels to grow apart and yet still grow together. A heartfelt depiction with stellar performances and a narrative filled with truth makes this a deep rooted story telling like no other. It’s a spectacular comedy filled with heart, or should I say, funny at the surface but deeply heartfelt.
For those who have ever relied on a friend’s support in the most chaotic phase of life, or for those who face the challenge of balancing self-identity with responsibilities, this film speaks to you. It captures and conveys emotions in a way that hits differently.
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