Unpregnant (2020)

IMDb plot summary: A 17-year old Missouri teen named Veronica discovers she has gotten pregnant, a development that threatens to end her dreams of matriculating at an Ivy League college, and the career that will follow.

Directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg. Stars Haley Lu Richardson, Barbie Ferreira, and Giancarlo Esposito.

Unpregnant follows a teenager girl who discovers she’s pregnant and sets off on a road trip with her former best friend to get an abortion in another state, since she can’t legally do it at home. This is almost an identical plot to Plan B, a personal favorite released a year later. Unpregnant, though, is less funny and more earnest, and its heart is in the right place, even if I feel consciously when its humor doesn’t land. There’s one genuinely hilarious sequence involving a nightmare pro-life family who essentially kidnap the girls to stop them from reaching their destination, but the rest of the film leans heavily on sincerity, and the tonal shift of the wacky middle of the film is interesting but jarring. Our two female leads, Haley Lu Richardson and Barbie Ferreira, are charismatic, with Ferreira especially standing out. (After seeing her in this and Bob Trevino Likes It, she’s clearly someone to watch.) Beyond the strong leads, though, Unpregnant is pleasant but ultimately forgettable.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Unpregnant (2020)

📊 Ranked #1778/4074 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 56

beat The King and I (#2033 → #2057)

lost to Steamboy (#1015 → #1014)

lost to Muppet Treasure Island (held at #1522)

beat Another Earth (#1779 → #1792)

lost to Winnie the Pooh (#1650 → #1649)

beat Allegiance (#1713 → #1720)

beat Brick (#1681 → #1718)

beat Cropsey (#1665 → #2078)

beat Pulp Fiction (#1657 → #2340)

lost to Swing Shift (#1653 → #1604)

lost to Bedknobs and Broomsticks (#1655 → #1646)

lost to The Revenant (#1656 → #1655)