Kristen’s upbringing reeks of white, upper-middle-class privilege. She has a nice house, an abundance of money, busy, albeit wildly ignorant, parents, a precious younger sister whom she loves, and the prospect of a top-tier university shining brightly ahead. None of this prevents her from spiraling down violently until she eventually gets busted. Somehow managing to hide the pregnancy from her folks, Kristen decides to go clean, but things only get uglier from here. Don’t expect any tidy happily-ever-afters in this one.
Which would be fine – I would be the first in line to bitch about the falsehood of happy endings – but a great filmmaker imbues their creation with layers and subtext, or humor and style, to counterbalance gratuitous displays of suffering, as noble as their intentions may be. There’s nothing technically wrong with Smith’s film. Sno Babies is fluid, knows when to ramp up the tension, elicits decent-to-excellent performances from its cast. Yet, there’s a spark missing that would make it stand out from its numerous predecessors (Kelly’s performance aside).
“…stellar central turn by Katie Kelly.”
I admire how Smith doesn’t shy away from the grim reality, cinematographer Joseph Hennigan’s camera almost becoming the needle that punctures flesh. We helplessly watch Kristen and Hannah destroy their lives and prospects, as they’re subjected to brutal cavity searches, breathless resuscitation, a deeply painful withdrawal, and perhaps the grisliest birth sequence this side of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.
The ludicrous hard rock soundtrack diminishes the effectiveness of Sno Babies (“I’m not your heroine!” it blares at one subtle point; “Don’t let yourself go too far down the rabbit hole,” it warns at another). Characters are prone to shedding tears by the buckets. When the film deviates from Kristen’s plight to a sub-plot not worth mentioning, all momentum comes to a halt. It’s also difficult to believe that both Kristen’s mom and dad would be that ignorant.
I know it sounds like I bashed Sno Babies, but it really isn’t half bad. It’s just that, in a world populated by the likes of, say, Danny Boyle’s classic Trainspotting, or Larry Clark’s controversial examinations of aimless youth, there’s little that makes Sno Babies truly stand out. Don’t do drugs, kids. Props to Katie Kelly for selling us this age-old adage with gusto.
"…I admire how Smith doesn't shy away from the grim reality..."
