Ninjababy, 2021.
Directed by Yngvild Sve Flikke.
Starring Kristine Kujath Thorp, Arthur Berning, Nader Khademi, Tora Christine Dietrichson, Silya Nymoen and Herman Tømmeraas.
SYNOPSIS:
An unplanned pregnancy leaves an amateur cartoonist with some tough choices to make.
“Has a car. Has sperm with superpowers. Smells like butter.” No, not the contents of a Tinder bio that would make most of us run for the hills — not to mention want to drop our phone into an extremely deep vat of acid — but the sort of off-kilter dialogue to be found in the sophomore feature from Norwegian director Yngvild Sve Flikke.
The above quote serves as a case in point of the allure of Ninjababy: a quirky comedy about a hard-partying amateur illustrator who unexpectedly falls pregnant. Its propensity to take a narrative road less-travelled, its steadfast refusal to be bound by the shackles of convention quickly makes the film the sort of wacky, crowd-pleasing indie flick fans of Booksmart and Eighth Grade will surely lap up.
But Ninjababy is something altogether different. Namely because, unlike the universality that underpins Olivia Wilde and Bo Burnham’s High School set coming-of-agers, Flikke’s film feels far more specific. This is the story of a very particular event, about a very particular conflict of emotions, affecting someone at a very particular period in their life. It is a scenario that many women, and indeed many men, will have pondered time and again but never actually experienced: what would you do if you were suddenly told you are going to have a child?
For Rakel (a magnificent Kristine Kujath Thorp), a creative, spontaneous if slightly cynical twenty-something whose bedroom walls and floor are adorned with the products of her spare-of-the-moment scribbles, a finite answer is hard to come by. That’s because of all her future plans — astronaut; forest-keeper; cartoonist — being a mother is certainly not one of them. So when she finds out a fetus is growing inside of her, and she’s much further along than first thought, Rakel is quickly forced into making some tough life decisions.
With legal abortion off the table, she is seemingly left with two options: either she puts the child up for adoption or embraces the responsibility alongside the baby’s father: a gawky fuckbuddy nicknamed ‘Dick Jesus’ (Arthur Berning), who, while possessing an impressively-sized appendage, also owns a poster with the Son of God clutching a spliff and the caption ‘Blaze the Lord’. In other words, she has absolutely no idea what to do.
And it’s through Rakel’s confusion and indecision that Ninjababy rings wonderfully, and raucously true. Amidst the painfully awkward narrative contrivances – turning up to an Aikido lesson taught by someone you recently shared a passionate one-night stand with — and the multitude of spit-out-your-drink zingers from Flikke, Johan Fasting and Inga H. Sætre’s script — “I should have just let him cum on my face” — Ninjababy reflects the mess and uncertainty of real life. The genre rule book, if ever there was such a thing, is well and truly torn to shreds.
Consequently, Ninjababy is both absurd and poignant: its tone pivoting regularly between irreverence and pathos. It is also immensely playful. Animated interludes — Rakel’s artwork brought to life — frequently interrupt the action, but rarely do they distract or diminish. In fact, such segments enhance the film, imbuing the story with greater depth and charm. Much like Fleabag’s fourth wall breaking, they serve as insightful — and often hilarious — windows into a character’s inner thoughts and feelings.
This really is fine work all round. From the performances of Kujath Thorp, Berning and Nader Khademi, whose Warhammer-loving Mos brings much of the film’s heart, to Inga Sætre’s drawings, to Fikke, Fasting and their firm commitment to truth, Ninjababy successfully communicates the trials and tribulations of being a young mother with nuance, wit and more than a little mischief. At which point we arrive at the great irony in all of this: here is a film about parenthood that you really shouldn’t watch with your parents.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★/ Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
George Nash is a freelance film journalist. Follow him on Twitter via @_GeorgeNash for movie musings, puns and cereal chatter.
Originally published March 18, 2021. Updated March 17, 2021.
