Arrested Development

Obvious Child is an abortion comedy, full stop. The film, by first-time director Gillian Robespierre, about the plight of Donna Stern (Jenny Slate), a comedienne who gets pregnant after a one-night stand, does not make light of her situation, but neither does it manufacture drama out of the decision. Instead, it documents the way that stand-up comics, a proudly damaged bunch on the whole, cope with their personal woes—which in this case is with very public gallows humor. About to get onstage to perform her act—a funny, digressive, emotionally raw deconstruction of her state of mind—Donna hears her best friend Nellie (Gaby Hoffmann) assure her that she’s going to kill it out there. “No,” Donna replies, without missing a beat, “I actually have an appointment to do that tomorrow morning.”

Obvious Child is in theaters June 6.