One of my top three films at TIFF ’26.
Having children is often treated as the natural next chapter of adulthood. Babies asks a surprisingly simple question: what if you just don’t want that chapter?
Anna Kendrick and Seth Rogen star as Annie and Aaron, a happily married couple confronting whether they actually want children after years of uncertainty. Rather than manufacturing some huge conflict between them, writer-director Lauren Miller Rogen surrounds the couple with friends at different stages of parenthood, allowing Annie to see both the joy and the sacrifices that come with having kids.
That was what I appreciated most about Babies. It doesn’t portray parenthood as either wonderful or miserable. Some friends find enormous fulfillment in it; others struggle with how completely their lives have changed. Aaron also recognizes that becoming a parent would physically and socially affect Annie in ways it simply wouldn’t affect him, so the final decision has to ultimately be hers.
Kendrick is especially good at capturing someone trying to separate what she actually wants from what society tells her she should want. Annie eventually compares having a child to pursuing a business opportunity despite seeing warning signs simply because she desperately wanted it to work. It’s a provocative comparison, but one that gets at the film’s bigger idea: “nobody told me it would be this hard” isn’t necessarily enough when you’re making an irreversible decision involving another human life.
I really liked that Babies actually commits to exploring an answer Hollywood doesn’t often give.
Choosing not to have children is becoming a more visible option for a generation questioning expectations their parents often took for granted. Babies doesn’t argue that one choice is better. Instead, it argues that either choice should actually be fine.
Babies is playing at TIFF ’26. For more information, click here.
