Baby Girl

Synopsis

Kelle is 13 and still a virgin. And if her best friend Danielle knows, then the whole school knows. But will sleeping with the wide-boy wannabe Nathan prove a step too far....?

Our Review:

29 February 2008

From pregnancy to death, the highlights of New Connections 2007 reveal truths about teenage life that shock us into laughter and out again.

Like indie film Juno, Roy Williams’ Baby Girl proves that teenage pregnancy can be funny too. Kelle is 13 and pregnant. Samantha, her rueful mother, is 26. While Sal ricochets from empathy to self-disgust Kelle grows up fast, taking on the bullies and the bitches. On this estate, there’s no space for childhood. Devastatingly, girls deride virgins and discuss baby names as casually as flicking through Heat. In a great, predominantly teenage cast, Candassaie Liburd shines as a quirkily heroic Kelle.

That Dennis Kelly cites Pinter as an influence is no surprise. With staccato dialogue, looping monologues and pervasive sense of menace, Kelly’s DNA is Grange Hill for the Skins generation. A teenage group find that their ritualistic bullying has led to a...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

Gareth James - 30 March 2008:

A fascinating insight into teenage attitudes to sex and pregnancy that's a bit scary really. Roy Williams again shows how good he is at characterising the young realistically, without stereotyping and charicature....

Read more and add your own review