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(Ninjababy, Curzon Home Cinema, Available 10 September)
"Ninjababy"
When Rakel (Kristin Kujath Thorn), 16, way too late, finds out she’s six months pregnant after a not-so-romantic one-night stand, her world changes. Her boyfriend Mos (Nader Khademi), who’s not the father, is kind of ok with her having a baby. But Rakel is absolutely not ready to be a mother. Since abortion is no longer an option, adoption is the only answer. That’s when 'Ninjababy' (Voice/Hermann Tâmmeraas), an animated character who insists on making Rakel’s everyday life a living hell, turns up. He climbs out from her note book, jumps into her tea cup, and keeps reminding her what a terrible person she's.
Rakel has greasy hair, a laidback posture and manspread while sitting, without it becoming too much of a cliché. Rakel is unique. Someone who breaks a little with the norms, a non-conformist. Her room is dirty and messy. She becomes pregnant by accident and has to figure it out by herself in her room; paradoxically, your most fertile age. "Ninjababy" has a multiplot story in which one of the characters accidentally gets pregnant. The main focus is on the relationship between Rakel and her best friend Ingrid (Thora Christine Dietrichson). The film explores the mental aspects of carrying a child. Being pregnant, the fact that another human is growing inside you, can be emotionally overwhelming. It's an amusing movie, but you can’t overload it with gags when the main story revolves around a young girl’s unwanted pregnancy. You've find right balance between humor and the seriousness of it all. The book ends right after childbirth, but the film wants to include more. The film mixes real-world imagery with animation, and although they don’t make up a huge part of the movie’s runtime, they’re extremely important to the movie’s overall tone. It's okay to stumble and mess up, you’re going to do that many times in your life, and as long as you get back on your feet, you’ll be fine. At the same time, the film wants to address the younger generation’s fear of getting pregnant. We live in a society where getting pregnant at your most fertile age is unusual. We believe a lot of people can sympathize with feeling stuck, being in a place you don’t want to be, not truly trusting you’ll be able to handle whatever life throws at you anymore, being a shitty person.
Inga H Sætre’s comic strips about 'Møkkajentene' ('Dirty Girls') came out in the early 2000s. We recognized ourself in her comical, and at times melancholy point of view. She has a reckless pen that’s both sensitive and resilient at the same time. We've always been incredibly fascinated by animation as an art form. But ever since 'Covid-19', the digital form of work has become the new norm, and unfortunately; not as fun. May the portrayal of women in 'Norwegian' film isn’t good enough. It has improved in recent years. The film wants to show that there are variations within all genders and help build a more tolerant and diverse society.
The film is also about taking responsibility, growing up, and being able to push through any situation you find yourself in. A lot of pregnant women have felt the fear of becoming a mother, even those who planned for it. And in turn the feeling of care and love that develops through a pregnancy in different ways. In several instances we use the animation to describe the bodily aspect of the anxiety and uncertainty that comes with it. A lot of people can sympathize with feeling stuck, being in a place you don’t want to be, not truly trusting you’ll be able to handle whatever life throws at you anymore, being a shitty person. And people of all ages can recognize themselves in the expectations of the outside world and how that contradicts with how you feel inside. It's okay to stumble and mess up, you’re going to do that many times in your life, and as long as you get back on your feet, you’ll be fine.
