After becoming pregnant from a one-night stand, Eden leans on her married best friend and mother of two, Dawn, to guide her through gestation and beyond. A film by Pamela Adlon, starring Ilana Glazer, Michelle Buteau, Hasan Minhaj, Stephan James, John Carroll Lynch, Kenny & Keith Lucas, Elena Ouspenskaia, and Oliver Platt.

Eden (Ilana Glazer), a yoga teacher, takes a 115-minute journey with four train rides to meet her best friend Dawn (Michelle Buteau), a pregnant dentist, at a cinema. They plan to watch a movie on Thanksgiving Day, continuing their tradition of 27 years, which implies their friendship since childhood.

During the movie, Dawn keeps changing seats, complaining that every seat she sits on is wet. Suspicious, Eden asks Dawn if she’s the one making the seats wet. Dawn asks Eden to check, and Eden confirms that Dawn is leaking amniotic fluid. Dawn makes an emergency call to Doctor Morris at the hospital, who assures her she’s in labor and needs to come to the hospital immediately.

Dawn is reluctant to go to the hospital right away, recalling her experience with her first son’s birth. She describes it as a grueling 25-hour labor during which she was only allowed ice chips, not real food. Eden suggests they go to a restaurant so Dawn can enjoy a hearty meal before heading to the hospital. However, as they’re eating, Dawn’s labor pains intensify, forcing them to cut their meal short and rush to the hospital.

Dawn delivers a baby girl, with Marty and Eden by her side in the delivery room. The birth overwhelms Eden, causing her to leave the room and vomit in a nearby bin in the hospital hallway. Reunited after the birth, Dawn expresses surprise at Eden’s disgust, reminding her of their past habit of sending each other pictures of their poops to name. The film later reveals that Dawn and Eden used to live in Astoria together, but Dawn and Marty moved to the Upper West Side after the birth of Dawn’s first child a few years ago.

Dawn asks Marty to get her some sushi, complaining that she’s tired of potato chips and craves real food. Eden volunteers to go buy the sushi instead, allowing Marty to stay with Dawn and their newborn. At the Japanese restaurant, Eden is surprised by the high price of the sushi she orders.

Eden returns to the hospital, only to find Dawn and Marty already fast asleep, exhausted. A nurse notices Eden and asks her to leave, explaining that only pre-approved family members can be in the rooms after visiting hours. Eden asks the nurse if she can store $500 worth of sushi in the refrigerator to keep it from spoiling. However, the nurse informs her that their fridge is reserved for blood and organs, forcing Eden to take the bag of sushi back with her.

While riding the train back to Astoria, Eden hears the conductor announce that the train is shutting down for the holiday. As she’s eating sushi, she hastily packs her food and prepares to exit. A man notices Eden frantically stuffing the sushi back into the bags and holds the doors open for her.

On the platform, Eden thanks the kind man and introduces herself. He responds that his name is Claude (Stephan James). They board the next train together, chatting, and Eden invites him to share her sushi. They seem attracted to each other. Eden comments on Claude’s outfit, teasing that he looks like a waiter from the Great Depression. Claude reveals that he’s just returned from shooting a scene in a Martin Scorsese movie, where he has a supporting role as a sexy Black waiter with only two lines of dialogue.

On their next train, Eden confides in Claude that she’s never had unprotected sex, to which Claude responds that he hasn’t either. He mentions that he gets tested for STIs every month. Eden is surprised to learn that Claude also goes to the Twins on 43rd, the same place she uses for testing. Claude tells her he trusts the Twins with his life, even listing them as his emergency contact. The two end up at Eden’s apartment where they decide to have unprotected sex, as Eden believes she can’t get pregnant during her period, and they both recently had routine STI tests at the Twins.

STI (sexually transmitted infection) testing involves getting tested for infections that are spread primarily through sexual contact. The most common STIs include chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, trichomoniasis, HIV, and HPV.

Claude and Eden exchange messages after their encounter. Strangely, Claude stops responding to Eden’s messages. Although Eden feels a special connection with Claude, she doesn’t want to appear needy, so she ignores him, assuming he’s intentionally ghosted her. Soon after, Eden discovers she’s pregnant with Claude’s child and attempts to contact him, but he doesn’t reply to her messages. She realizes she doesn’t even know his last name. Dawn suggests that Claude and Eden might have some mutual people they both know.

Eden visits the Twins, Benny (Kenny Lucas) & Bobby (Keith Lucas), to inquire about Claude. Initially, they’re reluctant due to HIPAA rules that forbid them from disclosing patient information. However, after Eden explains she’s pregnant with Claude’s child, they reveal a shocking truth: Claude is dead. (I genuinely thought it was a prank, given the twins’ comedic timing, which they undeniably nailed. I wish they had more screen time.)

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a U.S. federal law enacted in 1996 that establishes national standards for protecting sensitive patient health information. Its main purposes are to provide continuous health insurance coverage for workers who lose or change jobs, reduce healthcare costs by standardizing electronic transactions, combat fraud and abuse, and improve access to long-term care services. HIPAA applies to covered entities like healthcare providers, health plans, and clearinghouses, requiring them to implement policies and procedures to protect the privacy and security of individuals’ protected health information (PHI). Key components include the Privacy Rule limiting PHI use and disclosure, the Security Rule setting standards for protecting electronic PHI, and the Enforcement Rule providing for investigations and penalties for noncompliance.

The Twins further explain that Claude died the day after Thanksgiving in a freak accident, choking on an almond. They were notified because Claude had indeed listed them as his emergency contact.

Dawn accompanies Eden to visit Doctor Morris (John Carroll Lynch) at the hospital for an ultrasound to confirm her pregnancy. Morris suggests Eden undergo genetic testing to check for any red flags, as Jewish people tend to carry certain genetic diseases. Fortunately, the results come back all clear.

Dawn becomes concerned about Eden, promising to support her decision whether she chooses to keep or abort the baby. Although Dawn secretly hopes Eden would choose abortion, knowing how difficult it is to raise a child alone, she’s surprised when Eden decides to keep the baby. Despite Dawn’s promises to be there for Eden every step of the way, their friendship gradually grows apart as Dawn struggles to juggle her roles as a mother of two and her career as a dentist.

Written and directed by American filmmaker Pamela Adlon in her directorial debut, BABES succeeds as a memorable comedy film with engaging dialogue, bodily humor, believable performances, and great chemistry by Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau. Glazer and Buteau portray two best friends since childhood whose lives take wildly divergent paths, with Eden living a carefree, bohemian existence and Dawn juggling motherhood and a demanding career.

Despite the film’s overall entertainment value, its heartwarming story and predictable conclusion are occasionally overshadowed by a few out-of-place elements. For instance, the sudden appearance of Oliver Platt as the Eden’s estranged father feels forced and serves only as a quick reconciliation scene. Similarly, the scene with Dawn’s talking breasts (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg) shooting milk across the room, feels unnecessary.

The film also features a surprising cameo from Darren Criss, an acclaimed actor known for his roles in the musical TV series Glee and the crime anthology American Crime Story. Here, he takes on the unexpected role of a male doula.

A doula is a non-medical professional who provides emotional, physical, and informational support to a mother before, during, and after childbirth. The word “doula” comes from the Greek word meaning “female slave” or “woman servant”.

The film was theatrically released in the United States on 17 May 2024.