‘Babies’ Review: Anna Kendrick and Seth Rogen Shine in a Funny, Thoughtful Take on Parenthood
‘Babies’ Review: A Funny Question About Having Children
Babies takes a familiar life question and turns it into a surprisingly thoughtful comedy: what happens when a couple who have never planned to have children suddenly start wondering whether they should?
Written and directed by Lauren Miller Rogen, the film stars Anna Kendrick and Seth Rogen as Annie and Aaron, a Los Angeles couple who have been together for 17 years and are comfortable with their decision to remain childless.
Until they are not.
‘Babies’ Movie Details
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Title | Babies |
| Director | Lauren Miller Rogen |
| Writer | Lauren Miller Rogen |
| Stars | Anna Kendrick, Seth Rogen, Issa Rae, Dan Stevens |
| Festival | Toronto International Film Festival |
| Premiere | TIFF Gala Presentation, 2026 |
| Runtime | 1 hour 37 minutes |
| U.S. Distributor | Roadside Attractions, Vertical |
| Theatrical Release | 2027 |
The couple’s uncertainty begins after spending time around friends and families with children. What had once seemed like a settled decision starts to feel more complicated, forcing Annie and Aaron to consider whether parenthood could be the missing piece in their otherwise happy marriage.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Gala Presentations section, Babies works because it doesn’t treat the question as having an obvious answer.
Instead, Miller Rogen uses comedy, family drama and uncomfortable situations to examine why people choose to have children — and why others choose not to.
Anna Kendrick Drives the Film
Kendrick gives the film its strongest comic energy.
As Annie, she moves between sarcasm, anxiety and genuine emotional uncertainty as her thoughts about motherhood become increasingly difficult to ignore.
The character’s internal monologues allow the audience to hear the arguments happening inside her head. At first, they are playful observations about the parents around her. Gradually, they become more personal.
Annie begins questioning not only whether she wants a child but also what kind of future she wants.
Kendrick handles those shifts without turning Annie into a caricature. Even when the comedy becomes deliberately awkward, the character remains recognizable and emotionally grounded.
Seth Rogen Brings Warmth to Aaron
Rogen plays Aaron as the more relaxed half of the relationship, giving the couple an easy chemistry that helps sell their long history together.
Rather than portraying their marriage as being in trouble, Babies makes an important distinction: Annie and Aaron are happy together.
Their dilemma comes from wondering whether happiness should be changed simply because their friends, relatives or society suggest that another stage of life is waiting for them.
That makes their conversations more interesting than a conventional relationship crisis.
There is no obvious villain and no simple answer.
The Couple Gets a Test Run at Parenthood
Their first real experiment comes when Annie’s friend and business partner Becky and her husband Ethan are expecting their third child.
At the same time, Annie’s realtor friend Eliza has separated from her unfaithful husband Luke and temporarily moves into Annie and Aaron’s home with her young daughter, Eve.
Annie and Aaron decide that having Eve around might give them a glimpse of what life with a child could actually be like.
Eve is cute and generally well behaved.
But the reality is less romantic than the couple might have imagined.
Toilet training becomes an ongoing battle, while an attempt to make light of the situation leads to a pointed warning about the danger of attaching shame to a child’s body.
Those moments give the comedy an edge. Babies is willing to laugh at the messiness of raising children without turning children or parents into the joke.
The Story Gets More Serious
The film’s emotional weight comes largely through Annie’s family.
Her mother is in the later stages of Alzheimer’s disease, while her father is increasingly lonely.
Annie encourages her father to try a dating site, despite his initial resistance. He eventually agrees and meets Susan, a lively woman who has recently been widowed and is played by Sharon Stone.
The dating storyline provides humor, but it also deepens the film’s larger questions about aging, family and what people leave behind.
Watching her mother’s condition, Annie begins to consider a much darker possibility: what if she eventually develops the same disease?
And perhaps more importantly, would she want her own child to experience watching her go through it?
That fear gives the seemingly light premise considerably more emotional depth.
Lauren Miller Rogen Balances Comedy and Emotion
Miller Rogen, making her second feature as a director after Like Father, draws on elements of her own life while keeping Babies from becoming a purely autobiographical exercise.
The screenplay moves comfortably between big questions and deliberately ridiculous situations.
One of the film’s broadest comic moments involves an unfortunate incident during a Los Angeles County Museum of Art installation.
The humor can be crude, but it is generally connected to the characters rather than inserted simply for shock value.
That balance is one of the film’s biggest strengths.
The movie can joke about bodily functions one moment and then turn toward questions about mortality, family and the future without completely losing its footing.
A Strong Supporting Cast
Kendrick and Rogen receive strong support from an ensemble that includes Issa Rae, Dan Stevens, Kate Berlant, Zach Cherry, Ed Helms, Ashley Park, Sharon Stone and David Strathairn.
Berlant is particularly effective as Eliza, whose nervous energy adds another comic dimension to Annie’s increasingly complicated domestic experiment.
Strathairn provides some of the film’s more affecting moments as Annie’s father.
Stone’s appearance as Susan adds another layer to the story’s exploration of companionship later in life.
Together, the supporting characters give Annie and Aaron different versions of adulthood to consider.
The Baby Shower Becomes a Turning Point
Annie’s uncertainty eventually reaches a peak at Becky’s baby shower.
After finding the non-alcoholic champagne, she delivers one of the film’s more memorable comic moments, openly questioning the behavior and pretensions of some of the mothers around her.
It is funny because it reflects the frustration that has been building throughout the movie.
Annie has spent much of the story trying to understand whether parenthood is something she genuinely wants or something she has simply been conditioned to consider.
Kendrick makes that conflict feel both ridiculous and real.
‘Babies’ Release Date
Babies premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival and is scheduled to arrive in theaters through Roadside Attractions and Vertical in 2027.
The film has a reported runtime of 1 hour and 37 minutes.
‘Babies’ Cast
- Anna Kendrick as Annie
- Seth Rogen as Aaron
- Issa Rae
- Dan Stevens
- Kate Berlant
- Zach Cherry
- Ed Helms
- Ashley Park
- Sharon Stone
- David Strathairn
Verdict
Babies succeeds because it treats the decision to become a parent as a genuinely complicated choice rather than a destination every couple is expected to reach.
Kendrick is the film’s comic standout, while Rogen gives the relationship warmth and credibility. Miller Rogen’s direction keeps the story moving between broad laughs and more uncomfortable questions about aging, family, mortality and personal choice.
The result is a warm, crowd-friendly comedy with considerably more on its mind than its title might suggest.
Rating: 4/5
FAQs
What is Babies about?
Babies follows Annie and Aaron, a longtime Los Angeles couple who have chosen not to have children but begin reconsidering that decision after becoming surrounded by friends and family with kids.
Who stars in Babies?
The film stars Anna Kendrick and Seth Rogen, alongside Issa Rae, Dan Stevens, Kate Berlant, Zach Cherry, Ed Helms, Ashley Park, Sharon Stone and David Strathairn.
Who directed Babies?
Lauren Miller Rogen wrote and directed the film. It is her second directorial feature following Like Father.
When will Babies be released?
Babies premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival and is expected to be released theatrically by Roadside Attractions and Vertical in 2027.
Is Babies a comedy?
Yes. The film is primarily a comedy, but it also explores serious themes involving parenthood, aging, Alzheimer’s disease, marriage and personal choices.
