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Parenthood is a lot of work. It requires long days, a lot of sleepless nights, and a lifetime of worry. And in Babysplitters, two couples consider the pros and the cons of parenting and decide that they’re just not willing to make the full-time commitment.
Babysplitters follows four friends on their journey to parenthood. Sarah (Emily Chang) is eager to start a family, but her husband, Jeff (Danny Pudi), wants more time to settle into life and become more established in his career. Meanwhile, their friend, Don (Eddie Alfano), feels the same as Sarah, while his wife, Taylor (Maiara Walsh), just isn’t ready. As he struggles with the idea of giving up his life to have a child, Jeff suggests that they split a child—so they can get all of the benefits with only half of the time commitment.
No matter how ridiculous this idea is, anyone who’s worried about the full, permanent commitment involved in becoming a parent will get it. Life before kids is laidback and spontaneous. Life after kids involves loss of sleep, loss of personal time, expensive babysitters, and a whole lot of planning and gear. The part-time arrangement that Jeff proposes seems like pretty good compromise on paper.
For these two couples, though, the road to parenthood is not an easy one—nor is it a short one. It’s long, and it’s awkward, and it’s often incredibly uncomfortable. They need to work out the details of their arrangement. They need to begin the process (hint: they choose one parent from each couple, but they don’t want to pay for the expensive procedures). And they work through all kinds of bumps along the way.
This journey definitely has its moments—the moments when you can’t help but laugh out loud. Even more than that, though, are the moments that are just so uncomfortable that you’ll bury your hands in your face from the sheer discomfort of it all. And so many of those uncomfortable scenes are so much longer than they need to be. And since it’s pretty clear how it’ll all work out in the end, the two hours of awkwardness leading up to it can be hard to endure.
Babysplitters has an interesting concept and plenty of comedic potential. But instead of 90 minutes of silliness, it’s much longer and much more uncomfortable than necessary. And those occasional laugh-out-loud moments just aren’t worth it.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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