Babes Review: Michelle Buteau & Ilana Glazer Earn Big Laughs In Endearing & Deeply Heartfelt Comedy

Babes follows two life-long friends as one of them embarks on a new adventure — motherhood. Dawn (Michelle Buteau) and Eden (Ilana Glazer) consider themselves sisters. Their relationship is seemingly unbreakable, as everyone understands what they are to each other, including Dawn’s husband, Marty (Hasan Minhaj). But when Eden accidentally gets pregnant just as Dawn welcomes her second child, the two find their relationship tested as their family obligations, distance, and the responsibilities of motherhood threaten to tear them apart.

Despite the rather dramatic description, Babes is a comedy with some poignant dramatic parts. With Babes, the filmmaking team — Pamela Adlon, in her feature directorial debut, who works from a script by Glazer and Josh Rabinowitzand — captures an authentic, and often underrepresented, facet of sisterhood and motherhood.

Michelle Buteau & Ilana Glazer Have Incredible Chemistry

They’re perfectly matched with the material

Babes is nothing without Glazer and Buteau. The actresses are among the most highly recognized and beloved comedians working today, and both are still riding the high of their respective TV success. Broad City put Glazer on the map, so to speak, and she carries a bit of her character from the series with her as she plays Eden. She is an eccentric, charismatic, and cheerful woman who is content but doesn’t necessarily have her life together.

Buteau is riding the high of her hit Netflix series, Survival of the Thickest, which has miraculously gotten a second season. As Dawn, Buteau, like Glazer, has some familiar traits from her TV character and a bit of her public persona, but there is a touch more gravitas to her performance as she plays the “serious” friend. Dawn is accomplished, married, and has another child on the way. She has moved to the suburbs and is living the kind of life many career-driven women dream of, with a supportive husband by her side to boot.

Babes relies so much on the pair’s comedic instincts, which they adjust for every scene based on what is needed. Even when poignant moments arise, the actresses are acutely aware of how some levity in their delivery makes their character’s plight more relatable and touching. Additionally, Glazer and Buteau have incredible chemistry, bouncing off each other so naturally.

The characters are not strictly defined, allowing Glazer and Buteau to imbue their own sensibilities, experiences, and quirks into their respective characters. It makes them so much more than characters in a story, as they represent the many women who have long-lasting friendships that can be more profound than the relationships they have with family members or romantic partners.

Babes Is Insightful About Motherhood & Sisterhood

But it doesn’t forget about the comedy, which is genuinely hilarious

With a premise like Babes, there is an assumption that Glazer’s Eden would be taking center stage, while Buteau’s Dawn is a supporting player. Thankfully, the movie is evenly split between the two, creating a complete picture of Eden’s progression and Dawn’s awakening. Eden is in a somewhat stagnant position. She is a mostly functioning adult, but due to some parental trauma, she is lacking in the responsibility department.

In a way, Dawn is more stable with a husband, child and a flourishing career. However, much like Eden’s decision to become a mother, Dawn must reckon with the reality of being a mother of two, with her responsibilities quadrupling after promising to always be by Eden’s side. Both women approach motherhood from very different places and perspectives, yet their journey involves more than just their children.

Glazer, Rabinowitz, and Adlon do an incredible job of creating dynamic, complex characters who express varying emotions and thoughts. The film showcases how there is never a singular problem when it comes to a friendship being tested. After years of pent-up emotions, recent life developments, monumental choices, and critical personality differences, Dawn and Eden’s friendship reaches a point where it will either evolve or dissipate.

Babes is genuinely curious about how that would happen when the relationship is built on such profound love and appreciation for each other. It also illustrates how societal structures that demand women hold space for more than just themselves and their families are significantly detrimental. Yet, Dawn cannot articulate or even recognize the grander ideas that influence her decisions. For a comedy to have this much nuance and still be funny is impressive. And rest assured, the comedy is very, very funny.

Babes is an absolute blast; it’s honest, intentional, funny and moving. With brilliant lead performances from Buteau and Glazer, as well as an endearing supporting cast, the movie is engaging and entertaining from beginning to end. Glazer and Rabinowitz pour considerable care and consideration into this film, making Adlon’s job easier when translating their work onscreen. Babes is more than just a movie about motherhood; it’s about the growing pains of being an adult, love, friendship, and finding new ways to come of age. It’s truly sensational.