Film

What to Expect When You're Expecting

Name: What to Expect When You're Expecting
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Released: 2012
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker

Comedy
Light-hearted

An ensemble comedy about five couples navigating pregnancy and parenthood, each facing different flavours of chaos and uncertainty. Bounces between storylines with warmth and humour, finding the comedy in hormones, second thoughts, and the gap between expectation and reality. For anyone who's wondered what happens when life doesn't go according to plan.

TMDb rating

3.0

If you liked this

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Hugh Grant fumbles through impending fatherhood with the same bumbling charm—neurotic, funny, fundamentally decent. A romantic-comedy ancestor that understands parenthood anxiety breeds great comedy.

But The '90s romantic-comedy formula feels dated now. Grant's tics, endearing then, can wear thin.

Juno2007

Tackles unexpected pregnancy with genuine wit and emotional weight, letting both comedy and heartbreak coexist. Ellen Page's performance is so alive it makes you believe in every contradiction.

But Darker and more melancholic than this film—less reassuring, more genuinely uncertain about how things will turn out.

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Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin navigate messy adult relationships with intelligence and chemistry. Proves grown-up romantic comedy can be sophisticated without becoming cold.

But Centred on an affair rekindling—if that premise bothers you, the whole film does. Also considerably slower-paced.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from What to Expect When You're Expecting

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Look Who's Talking1989

Both films use ensemble casts and multiple relationship timelines to explore the shock of parenthood, but *Look Who's Talking* solves the tone problem by leaning into absurdist farce instead of warm realism.

A talking baby as a Bruce Willis voiceover solves the central problem this film wrestles with: how do you make parental terror funny? It's genuinely hilarious trash, preposterous in exactly the right way.

But The film is aggressively silly—a baby lecturing you in a man's gravelly voice. It is not trying to be subtle or smart. Also not especially kind to women.

Knocked Up2007

Judd Apatow's answer to unexpected pregnancy—rawer, more profane, but equally invested in the genuine panic and joy of becoming a parent. Seth Rogen's hangdog sincerity sells the transformation.

But Significantly cruder and more male-focused. Less interested in the ensemble approach; pregnancy is the plot, not the backdrop.

Father of the Bride1991

Steve Martin's panicked father navigating family chaos is the template for this kind of warm ensemble comedy. Finds comedy in the mundane details of life changing overnight.

But Less directly about parenthood and more about wedding logistics. Very much a product of its era in how it handles gender roles.

Parenthood1989

Ron Howard's sprawling ensemble about an entire extended family managing generational parenthood struggles. Balances big laughs with real tenderness about what family actually costs.

But Nearly two and a half hours long and very earnest. The comedy takes backseat to the human stuff, which some find sappy.

The Back-Up Plan2010

Jennifer Lopez meets Alex Baldwin when she unexpectedly becomes pregnant—a romantic comedy that leans into the physical comedy of pregnancy and the absurdity of timing. Warm-hearted and unpretentious.

But Entirely forgettable within days of watching. The plot is tissue-thin and the chemistry doesn't quite crackle.

About a Boy2002

Hugh Grant as a commitment-phobic man forced to engage with a child and actual adulthood. Funnier and smarter than it first appears, with genuine affection for its screwed-up characters.

But Oblique about parenthood rather than direct. If you want a film *about* having kids, this is more about avoiding them.

She's Funny That Way2015

Peter Bogdanovich's valentine to screwball comedy. Owen Wilson and Kathryn Hahn navigate relationship chaos with slapstick warmth. A deliberate throwback that actually earns its nostalgia.

But Aggressively old-fashioned, almost to the point of parody. If you're allergic to artifice, the theatrical staging will drive you up the wall.

Boyhood2014

Where *What to Expect* shows the threshold moment across five couples, *Boyhood* shows what comes after—the long arc of parenting and how it changes you across a decade. One covers the before, the other the entire after.

Richard Linklater filmed the same characters over twelve years. It's a documentary-adjacent experience of parenthood's real texture—the way children become people, the way parents age, how little control anyone has. Hypnotic.

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Yes, God, Yes2020

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But Explicitly about masturbation and female sexuality. Religious families or anyone sensitive to critiques of Catholicism will find it provocative. Very deliberately so.