''Babymother'' is a 1998 British

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

film directed by

Julian Henriques Julian Henriques (born 1951) is a British filmmaker, researcher, writer and academic. He is a professor at Goldsmiths, University of London, in the Media and Communications Department, with his particular research interests being culture, technolo ...

and released by Channel 4 Films. It is considered to be the first

Black British Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76–7 ...

musical and captures the British Caribbean

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

cultural scene of London. ''Babymother'' was also one of the few British musicals of its period.

Plot

In the London district of

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, North West London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towards ...

, Anita is a single mother dreaming of becoming a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

singer, but living in a run-down council estate with little financial support, and conflict with her children's father, Byron, dents her dreams. Despite no funds for a studio demo, she has talent and ambition, and with her equally ambitious two friends, the trio pin their hopes on an upcoming singing contest to make it big.

Cast

Production

''Babymother'' was directed and written by

, his first feature film, and was produced by his wife Parminder Vir. Henriques is of Jamaican background and a resident of Harlesden, where the film is set in. The film's budget was £2 million and was funded by

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

Release

''Babymother'' opened in the UK on 11 September 1998 and three days later was screened at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

. The film did not receive much attention among major filmgoers and it has been considered a rare production. It made its name more as a

cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage ...

. Since release it has been seldom aired on

Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, it ...

TV. On 26 July 2021, the film was reissued by the

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

in remastered 2K and released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

. The release includes interviews with the director and other staff, as well as ''We the Ragamuffin'', a 1992 short production by Henriques.

Reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

it holds a score of 48 based on 4 critic reviews. ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' gave the film 2 stars out of 5, noting that Henriques tackles subjects such as

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and tensions in the black community, but with little depth. The reviewer gave criticism to the main character Anita, " eliveringher dialogue as if reading from an autocue." The review did, however, praise the strong supporting cast. A '' Time Out'' review was critical of Anita's character, but gave her praise as a vocalist (Smith) and called the closing two songs "excellent". The film received new attention upon its 2021 Blu-ray release. Rewind DVDCompare gave the film a score of B+, calling it a "flat out fun and unique film." Cineoutsider.com said it is a film "with its place in history".

Musical numbers

Original songs performed in the film are:

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, babymother 1998 films British musical comedy-drama films Films set in London Black British cinema Black British mass media Black British films 1990s English-language films 1990s British films