The documentary 'Baby/Girls,' directed by Alyse Walsh and Jackie Jesko, profiles teenage mothers in rural Arkansas following the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade. Filmed over two years at a Christian maternity home, the film highlights the personal and cultural challenges faced by its young subjects. It premieres in the Documentary Spotlight section at SXSW.
'Baby/Girls' follows pregnant teenagers and new mothers, some as young as 14, residing at Compassion House, a facility where some are sent by families and others by courts, often wearing oversized ankle monitors. The film, spanning 94 minutes, captures their interactions and reflections on topics like inadequate sex education, cycles of poverty, and postpartum depression. Directors Walsh and Jesko maintain an observant distance, allowing subjects to express their feelings and regrets about limited choices in contraception and life paths.
One subject, Grace Dulaney, initially expresses excitement about motherhood but later confronts its financial and emotional demands. Other featured individuals include Ariana Green, Olivia Malott, Audra Dulaney, Crystal Widger, Brian Rivera, and Paula Woods. The documentary portrays these stories against a backdrop of rural greenery, emphasizing the subjects' youth and naivety amid cultural taboos.
While the film avoids an explicitly pro-choice stance, it underscores how circumstances have restricted the girls' options, with some embracing motherhood and others struggling. Staff at the home, including former teen mothers, provide context on generational patterns. However, the narrative's multiple threads sometimes blend, diluting emotional arcs, and the unobtrusive interviewing style limits deeper introspection.
A notable criticism involves the use of generative AI to enhance photographs of subjects' friends and families, resulting in distorted images that undermine the film's authenticity. Production is by Latchkey Films and Maybe?, with producers Melissa Leardi, Alex Waterfield, and Kelly Rohrbach Walton, and executive producer Nick Capote. Music is composed by T. Griffin and Dash Hammerstein. The film was reviewed at Post Lab One in New York ahead of its SXSW debut.