Obvious Child

Hollywood films have famously shown great reluctance to engage with the issue of abortion in an honest way, so the frankness of Gillian Robespierre’s debut feature, Obvious Child, is refreshing. When stand-up comedian Donna (Slate) finds herself pregnant after a drunken one-night stand, the film refuses to indulge in sanctimony or angst over her decision to deal with it in her own way.

Obvious Child’s straightforward approach is personified by the disarming Slate, whose sharp one-liners ensure that we are never far from a laugh, but the film surrounding her occasionally seems a little threadbare. Supporting players (including David Cross and Gaby Hoffmann) are short-changed, and while Donna’s burgeoning relationship with Max (Lacy) works hard to avoid the usual romantic comedy complications, the resulting lack of real conflict leaves the film feeling increasingly trite. But Obvious Child is a genuine attempt to drag the moribund rom-com genre into more relatable and mature territory, and while it sometimes falls short of its aims, it’s an admirable step in the right direction.