Opening up alongside Iron Man 2 is a distinct new documentary, perfect for it’s Mother’s Day weekend slot. The film, Babies, is a documentary without dialogue. That’s right, Morgan Freeman’s voice won’t be telling you what to think. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the film’s French director, Thomas Balmes said, “I don’t want to do the work for the audience, I don’t want to tell them what to get out of the movie.” The movie however is not 2 hours of Anne Geddes photo shoots. Cuteness was not his goal. The film is poignant, funny and sometimes disturbing as it explores the first year of the lives of four infants being raised under vastly different circumstances.
The film takes a deep look at third-world child rearing techniques against our Western techniques. The San Francisco parents, are a model of progressive parenting, at-home birth, and vegetarian diet for their baby daughter, Hattie. 
That is a big difference from the more primitive and often hazardous conditions in Mongolia or Namibia, where the challenges aren’t choosing the right stroller or bouncy seat, but much more basic problems, like finding non-polluted water.
Balmes continues, “All the parents are doing totally different things, with totally different tools, to make sure their children are growing up in the best way possible.”
In another interview Balmes was asked, “Now that you’ve made the film, is there anything that… you would do differently as a parent?” his response to me sums up the purpose of this film and his hopes as the film-maker. “What happens between parent and child is so crucial, and I hope our film reminds people of that. Sometimes, with life happening, you can get a little lazy in developing a real relationship with your kids. I myself have. I hope Babies shows that no matter what their conditions are, wherever they live, these babies grow up happy as long as they are loved, and that this is universal.”
I hope all of you moms and dads have a happy Mother’s Day. I give Babies a predicted score of 78, you can check out the trailer for Babies below or see others clips and featurettes at TrailerAddict.com.
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