7 Great Movies About Pregnancy To Watch After ‘Babes’

And what is Babes, you ask, sending my jaw to the floor? Why, it’s the uproarious buddy comedy starring Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau that premiered May 17 to stellar reviews, of course! Specifically, the movie follows Eden (Glazer) as she becomes pregnant after a one-night stand and decides to have the baby, spawning hijinks galore. It’s a refreshing take on motherhood, aging millennialism, and ride-or-die friendships. 

It also follows a long line of pregnancy-themed genre flicks – some of them rom-coms, some of them Mother! starring Jennifer Lawrence – that are all worth seeing. Well, maybe not all of them. We would never trash someone’s artistic output or passion project here at Thought Catalog. So, here are seven movies about pregnancy that are not Mother! starring Jennifer Lawrence. 

Knocked Up (2007)

“He’s playing fetch with my kids. He’s treating my kids like they’re dogs.” What line better sums up the immaturity of Seth Rogen’s Ben Stone in this movie? Even his last name evokes his favorite medicinal recreational activity – the very activity that causes Allison Scott (Katherine Heigl) to have second thoughts about raising his child. 

But it’s the movie’s sweet romance and supporting characters (all Judd Apatow regulars) that make this movie sing. Though Allison and Ben had never planned their parenthood, they ultimately become a model couple. Also, who can forget the hyper-realistic shot of the baby coming out? Or the fateful Cirque du Soleil trip? Or the officious voice of Leslie Mann? Also, can we finally forgive Heigl for shading this movie? She was literally crucified for having an opinion.

Baby Mama (2008)

Jury’s out on whether this movie’s actual script is funny, but if you’re a Poehler and/or Fey stan, then this movie is for you. Running on chemistry and talent alone, the two improvise their way through this formulaic story, mining comedy gold en route. As Kate Holbrook, a workaholic who decides to have a baby via a chaotic surrogate (Poehler), Fey does her usual shtick to perfection. There’s even an absurdly amusing moment featuring Sigourney Weaver, of all people!

Juno (2008)

Is it just coincidence that so many comedies about pregnancy came out in the mid-to-late aughts? Or did Gen X screenwriters all get pregnant at the same time? Whatever the reason behind the Great On-Screen Baby Boom of 2004-2008, it simply wouldn’t be complete without Juno. Like, how many movies do you know that could include the line, “That ain’t no etch-a-sketch; this is one doodle that can’t be un-did, homeskillet” with a straight face? Though twee by modern standards, Juno is still a moving, endearing, delightfully eccentric coming-of-age tale. Plus, it stars Elliott Page in their cinematic breakthrough as the pregnant Juno MacGuff. Meanwhile, Jennifer Garner is magnificent as the woman who adopts her baby.

Saved! (2004)

If you weren’t a closeted queer kid with a penchant for indie cult comedies in the mid-aughts, then you probably missed this movie. That said, you need to go back and find it! It’s like an early prototype of Easy A, complete with sanctimonious religious character who judges the pregnant main character. However, in this case, the religious character is played by Mandy Moore and not by Amanda Bynes, and the ostracized sexually awakened woman is Jena Malone and not Emma Stone. Both are hilarious, whereas the plot – quiet girl f&cks gay man to turn him straight, then accepts his queerness after becoming pregnant with his child – is the stuff that indie dreams are made of.

Children of Men (2006)

Considering this thriller’s outstanding one-shot action sequences and close-ups of Clive Owen’s chiseled face, it’s easy to forget that the movie is about pregnancy. And yet, in the dystopian future of Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men, women can no longer get pregnant – and the world is on the verge of extinction. But one woman does get pregnant, setting off the movie’s plot. That said, Children of Men’s other prediction – that immigrants will be grimly barred from entering the United Kingdom – is already true. Thanks, Brexit! 

Citizen Ruth (1996)

Have you ever wondered what Laura Dern did between the years of 1993 and 2017? Well, she was in Alexander Payne’s directorial debut, for starters! In the dark satirical comedy Citizen Ruth, Dern plays a down-trodden paint-huffing mother of four who accidentally becomes pregnant with a fifth child, incidentally birthing a nationwide conversation about her right to get an abortion. The movie’s satire of the abortion debates of the ‘90s is mostly on the money, and quite ahead of its time. Dern, of course, is brilliant.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

This movie gets referenced so often that it’s almost impossible to watch it without knowing the ending. That said, the movie is still an exquisitely disturbing and atmospheric character study of a woman who may or may not be carrying the spawn of Satan. It’s also the U.S. debut of writer-director Roman Polanski, who, unlike Katherine Heigl, has not suffered enough for That Thing He Did Ugh. Oh, sorry…You were expecting me to end this list on a positive note? Uh, puppies and kittens!