Baby Girl

Movie was so bad I watched it hoping it would get better but nope. I sat through 2 hours. There's a lot that is supposed to be going on in this movie... But somehow, it didn't hold for me as either an erotic film or a film that dealt with power dynamics in a substantive way. There's a lot that is supposed to be going on in this movie... But somehow, it didn't hold for me as either an erotic film or a film that dealt with power dynamics in a substantive way. There's a lot that is supposed to be going on in this movie... But somehow, it didn't hold for me as either an erotic film or a film that dealt with power dynamics in a substantive way.

I could not even force myself to watch the entire thing. The acting is just horrible, none of them seem to know what they are doing. The way the lead smokes just looks freaking ugly. Why cast people who do not smoke, why make it a smoker in the first place, you did not really need that. The plot is horrible, the way the girls meet and start their story is incredibly bad. If nothing else the camera work is somewhat ok, does not look too bad. Any time they have a scene together the freaking cigarettes ruin everything. With every next plot line, it just gets dumber and dumber. The fight with mother is poorly made. After a somewhat decent scene of the fight with mother then switch to her talking about it holding a cigarette like she's disgusted by it. Why have it in the first place? Damn.

Of course I had never heard aboput this 2018 thriller titled "Baby Girl" prior to sitting down and watching it for the first time here in 2024. So I literally didn't know what to expect from writer Brandon Trask and director Kevin Van Stevenson.

The storyline in the movie was pretty slow paced. I will say that writer Brandon Trask definitely was good at fleshing out characters, but the pacing of the story was just pretty slow. And that made sitting through this a somewhat difficult task. The contents of the storyline were vague, and it didn't make for any particular entertaining viewing experience.

The movie is listed as a thriller. But I have to say that 50 minutes into the movie, this felt like nothing more than a sleaze-fest for writer Brandon Trask to showcase his lewd fantasies. And I tossed the towel in the ring around the 55 minute marker. By then I just couldn't take anymore of the pointless narrative and the sleazefest that this movie was. The movie failed to entertain me on a fundamental level.

I wasn't familiar with a single actress or actor on the cast list. But the cast ensemble was definitely talented, and they put on good performances in bringing the characters and storyline to life on the screen, despite of having very little of any solid contents to work with in terms of script and storyline.

Now, I am sure that there is an audience out there for a movie such as this, perhaps a young adult audience. But if you sit down to watch a movie with the intention of being properly entertained by a proper movie, then "Baby Girl" is not something you should waste your time on.

My rating of "Baby Girl" lands on a very, very generous two out of ten stars, and that is based on the acting performances alone, because the storyline was a dumpster fire.

Acting talent must not have been on the checklist when they cast this one. That being said, the dialog and emotional depth of the story wasn't ever going to make anyone a star. The only thing interesting was Diablo and her dangerous, freaky chick vibe. That can't exactly carry a film, though.

I forget how I came across this in the first place, but the premise seemed promising with a lot of potential. Even the first couple of minutes however, feel brusque, forced, and heavy-handed. That impression will not change, sadly, and is reflected in most every capacity: dialogue, characters, scene writing, acting and delivery, direction, editing, lighting, cinematography, production design and art direction, and somehow even in the sound design, hair, makeup, and costume design. In fact, "brusque," "forced," and "heavy-handed" mostly feel like overly polite descriptors, for some instances (of dialogue especially) are just plain awful. I appreciate the work that everyone put into this, and I hope they grow in their skills and find success in the future. I appreciate what this could have been, and I don't think it's unfair to suppose that most folks who take enough interest in it to actually watch are here for the suggested LGBTQ representation, whatever form it takes and whatever the resultant quality. Unfortunately, in this case, (presumably) earnest intentions don't amount to anything, and 'Baby girl' simply isn't very good.

I don't think overall that it's 100% irredeemably rotten. I recognize skill among the cast and crew that might flourish given the opportunity. There were, perhaps, some good ideas here. None of those ideas are treated well, however, and the ends to which all skill is guided is far less than great. Pretty much from the very start the viewing experience is laborious, and none of the drama carries any of the weight that it should - not the domestic drama, not the domestic violence, not the trauma, not the depression and self-harm, not the spiral into vices and antisocial behavior, not the manipulation and exploitation, not any of it. Ninety minutes crawl at an agonizingly slow pace, both in terms of the presentation itself and how it comes across while watching; at one point I glanced at the digital timer and was aghast to find that I hadn't even hit the one-third mark. Meanwhile, if one has come here for the promise of lesbian romance, well, suffice to say that what we get is outweighed by what we have to sit through for it. And the longer 'Baby girl' drags on, the further away we seem to get from any value that it might have possibly held.

Oh hey, I think I remember now how I came across this; star Sara Catherine Bellamy had a small part in Damien Chazelle's 'Babylon.' I loved 'Babylon!' That's the only connection, however, and there is no comparison: neither director Kevin Van Stevenson nor writer Brandon Trask are Damien Chazelle, and where 'Babylon' is a great but imperfect film, this is a rather floundering film that has a hard time illustrating its worth. There was the chance that this might have been a deserving, meaningful picture. To be that, however, would have required a far more measured, delicate, nuanced, tactful, careful, mindful approach, in every regard. Why, a complete tale is told, and on paper it's compelling, but it's incohesive and barely coherent, the sequencing is rubbish, and the final product comes across as unfocused and disjointed; more than that, I get the sense that Van Stevenson and Trask couldn't figure out exactly what they wanted their feature to be. I repeat that I hope all grow in their capabilities and prove themselves in the future, but as it stands 'Baby girl' stumbles all over itself and flails desperately in the vain hope of grasping at profundity that's far beyond its reach. Whatever you think you'll get out of this, you're best served looking elsewhere.