‘Babes’ Has Gaping Vaginas, Lactating Tits, and Gut-Busting Laughs

Not to be a millennial about this, but millennial comedy (and I mean good millennial comedy) gets a bad rap. That sort of gung-ho, idealistic humor—shared by the last generation raised before babies came out of the womb holding phones hermetically sealed to their tiny, wrinkly hands—typically feels out of date the second a punchline drops. Making ageless comedy is tough, especially when the way that the entire world operates shifts so quickly during a few years of your lifespan.

One of the all-time finest examples of millennial comedy remains Broad City, the brilliantly observational, deceptively tender tale of two New York besties that, aside from a few notable moments here and there, hasn’t aged a day. Half of that timelessness can be credited to its star, Ilana Glazer, who co-created and co-wrote Broad City alongside Abbi Jacobson. During the show’s run, Glazer proved herself a sharp wit when it came to skewering the experience of being a modern woman trying not to be spat out by the world.

Now, Glazer is doing it again. But this time, she’s shirking Broad City’s signature messiness for a more refined stab at enduring millennial satire. In Babes, which premiered as part of the headlining slate at SXSW Film Festival, Glazer and co-writer Josh Rabinowitz craft a fiercely funny and affectionate take on the pitfalls of best friendships as those relationships age. While Babes doesn’t seek to reinvent the comedy wheel, Glazer once again excavates the bonds between women to find all of those hysterical intricacies that she is so adept at sending up. With co-star Michelle Buteau and director Pamela Adlon also lending their empirical talents to Glazer and Rabinowitz’s writing, Babes’ benevolent humor skims the great heights of a Nora Ephron film for a modern take on womanhood that feels close to classic on arrival.

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