This is a public disclaimer: I didn’t look for this movie. I was just minding my own business, surfing Netflix to find something to watch while I ate dinner. Boom! Netflix practically shoved this one in my face.
I haven’t seen Amy Schumer in anything since I Feel Pretty in 2018, a movie I thoroughly enjoyed, so I figured, “Why not?” and hit play.
Lainy (Amy Schumer), an elementary school literature teacher in her 40s, falls apart when her four-year relationship with Dave (Damon Wayans Jr) implodes. She thought he was going to propose, but instead, he suggests a threesome.
The final trigger? Finding out her childhood best friend is pregnant before she is. But when a stranger assumes she’s pregnant and treats her kindly, she decides to roll with it and fake a pregnancy. Soon enough, she meets Josh (Will Forte), and they start working towards a relationship—one that clashes with the pseudo-life she’s created for herself.
It took me two minutes—two minutes—to realize I was going to absolutely hate this poor excuse for female comedy. It scores 25% on Rotten Tomatoes and 4.9/10 on IMDb, so I’m not alone in my annoyance.
So, here’s a list of everything wrong with it.
When her friend, who was afraid to share her news, accidentally reveals her pregnancy, Lainy’s immediate reaction is to whine about how she was supposed to be the first to get pregnant while her friend was supposed to struggle, give up, and end up with some off-brand pet instead. She plays it off as a joke, but it’s obvious she meant at least some of it. As a comedic bit, it’s crass, tone-deaf, and straight out of 2013.
Throughout the movie, Lainy drags her friend from one baby-related event to another to “show how supportive she is,” but it’s clear she’s only there for herself. She practically hijacks her friend’s pregnancy by the end. Enough said.
That’s the whole reason Lainy’s life fell apart in the first place—she wanted to be loved and adored by everyone, and she assumed the only way to get that kind of care and attention was by starting a family. In the end, she ends up hurting all the people who actually care about her and is forced to apologize to all of them. The thing is, I don’t actually think she learned about loving herself enough.
The writers either weren’t paid enough or couldn’t be bothered because they settled for the lazy trope: “Oh, she’s awkward and naïve.” Amy’s character has no discipline or personality beyond being destructive and loud, and there’s definitely no development along the way.
I’d love just one movie where the protagonist actually learns and grows without getting caught in a giant web of lies and then magically developing through a rushed montage of “truth-telling” and two months of being sad and soggy.
I did appreciate that Lainy started off dating an objectively hot and accomplished guy. Granted, he was an arse and deserved to be launched into a black hole, but why couldn’t she have met another guy just as attractive instead of someone more “on her level”? No offense to Will Forte.
There is so much bizarre, uncomfortable content involving kids. For example, a scene where a four-year-old stabs a pregnant woman—accidentally, of course, and it’s a fake pregnancy bump—but why? Who wrote that in and thought, Yes, this is the comedic gold we need?
The scene where Lainy crashes out in front of her students was also borderline disturbing. In the real world, she’d have faced serious consequences for that kind of behavior, but the movie just trudges on.
When the movie ended, I had to check the release year. It’s a 2025 movie, if you’re curious.
There’s been so much nuance in conversations about pregnancy lately, and this would have been such a great opportunity to explore important topics—women choosing not to have kids, abortion, infertility struggles, IVF, and postpartum realities. But nope. This movie distils it all down to all women need children to feel fulfilled. They didn’t even bother to explore the impact pregnancy has on men.
Groundbreaking.
There’s actual weirdness that comes with Gen Z culture that could have made the movie relatable to the younger generation, but instead, they cranked the exaggeration up to obnoxious.
For all its issues, I have to give credit where it’s due. Brianne Howey, Jillian Bell, and Chris Geere actually killed their roles like the veteran actors they are. Every time they were on screen, the movie felt momentarily tolerable.
Their comedic timing, line delivery, and ability to sell even the dumbest moments were impressive. Too bad the script gave them so little to work with.
The idea of pretending to be something—whether it’s pregnant, in a relationship, in a profession, or at college—has always been a solid (if incredibly predictable) comedy premise. You can go in any direction from there. But instead of doing anything interesting, Kinda Pregnant settles for lazy jokes, tired tropes, and unfunny weirdness.
Hard pass.
