Pamela Adlon’s new film ‘Babes’ keeps it messy

Pamela Adlon revels in steering into life’s messiest moments. This is especially true of her beloved, semi-autobiographical FX dramedy, Better Things (2016-2022), in which she played a divorced mother of three navigating her career, parenting, and aging. Her directorial debut feature, Babes, stars Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau. The film (in theaters now) finds Adlon examining the good, the bad, and the ugly of female friendship, childbirth, and parenting. Adlon tells The Treatment about the importance of making things as real as possible on Better Things. She shares her experience of always being an observer and having a camera in her hand from a very young age. And she hammers home the importance of demystifying incredibly common experiences like menopause and childbirth.