DbcultAccessing Vault...
5.8/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.8/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The First Baby remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, only if you're a fan of old-school family dramas that feel like they were pulled straight from a time capsule. If you can't stand characters who just won't stop talking or meddling in other people's lives, you'll probably hate this one. It's not exactly high art, but it’s got that weird charm that older movies sometimes accidentally stumble into.
The whole premise is basically one long, drawn-out headache about a mother-in-law who thinks she owns the place. She treats her daughter's marriage like a project she’s supervising. It reminded me a bit of the suffocating family dynamics you see in stuff like Birth Control, though this one is way less heavy on the messaging.
There’s this one scene where the mother-in-law is just hovering over the nursery, and I swear the camera lingers on her face for way too long. It stops being a plot point and starts being almost funny. Like, does she ever blink? I don't think she blinks.
The second act hits a wall. It’s just the same arguments repeated in different rooms. You can almost feel the movie trying to convince you that this woman’s opinion actually matters. It doesn’t. Everyone else is just too polite to tell her to go home.
It’s not as chaotic or adventurous as Legionnaires in Paris, obviously. It’s just people arguing about baby supplies and interior decorating. But there's something honest about how annoying family can get when they're all stuffed under one roof. It’s not profound, but it’s real enough to make you wince.
When the second baby finally arrives, the shift in tone is jarring. She just suddenly decides to be a better person? It feels like the writers got tired and just wrapped it up with a bow. A bit lazy, but I was kind of ready for it to be over anyway. 👶
