In "Babes," Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau play a pair of foul-mouthed besties going through pregnancy back-to-back. It's a gross-out comedy in dialogue only, teasing outrageous Farrelly brothers or Apatow-style moments that in the end are left to viewers' imaginations.

Glazer is Eden and Buteau is Dawn, best friends who grew up together in Queens who are now separated by several NYC train rides since Dawn's move to the Upper West Side. As the movie opens, Dawn is married (Hasan Minhaj plays her husband) and is about to have baby No. 2, while Eden is free-spirited and living the single life. Their friendship survives because of the time they make for one another, although Eden's life is about to change drastically when she winds up pregnant after a one-night stand.

Glazer ("Broad City") co-wrote the script with Josh Rabinowitz, and Pamela Adlon ("Better Things") directs. The movie dives deep into the particulars of pregnancy, blatantly calling out all the things they never tell you about giving birth in the movies. Those areas of the script are sharp, less so is the tension between Eden and Dawn when the script requires them to "break up" and later reconnect as friends.

Glazer is playing a version of her "Broad City" character, hyper-riffing on comedic bits placed in front of her, as her character is stuck in a suspended millennial adolescence: She plans a prom theme for her childbirth, and shows Dawn's 4-year-old son "The Omen" while babysitting, goading him into secrecy through a pinky swear. She's a lot. Buteau's character is more grounded, and gets to act out on her frustrations with motherhood and childbirth, as well as with Eden's perpetual immaturity. You can understand her irritation.

"Babes" is an homage to female friendships that successfully demystifies the miracle of childbirth by detailing all the unflattering aspects of it that don't usually make it to the screen in Hollywood's version of pregnancy. (As one character points out, this is not a Nora Ephron movie.) The big, "Bridesmaids"-style laughs don't necessarily arrive, and tend to be muted here. This is more a comedy of familiarity, in which viewers will see parts of themselves — and, just as importantly, their besties.

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'BABES'

Grade: B-

MPA rating: R (for sexual material, language throughout, and some drug use)

Running time: 1:44

How to watch: Now in theaters

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