'Kinda Pregnant' Review: Schumer co-writes, leads an abysmal, belabored comedy

Not even an amiable Will Forte can save Kinda Pregnant from its try-hard humor, frustrating clichés, and sociopathic tendencies

Amy Schumer is an interesting figure in the entertainment industry. At the beginning of the second Obama administration, Schumer turned heads and built a following with a stand-up comedy career found at the crossroads of raunch and feminism with a killer edge for cynicism and hard-left punchlines. Her presence as a stand-up impressed mainstream audiences, myself included at the time, with her 2012 comedy special Cutting being a personal favorite of mine back in college. This lucrative success translated into a Comedy Central series and a career in film, with her co-writing and starring in Trainwreck (2015), Snatched (2017), and I Feel Pretty (2018). While some of the Apatow-isms of her comedy translated in Trainwreck, the diminishing returns of her stand-up quickly became apparent. Schumer continues to tour with a dedicated following, and bit parts in projects, but her mass exposure has dwindled exponentially. Not to mention, despite clarifying her stance, her open support of Israel last year doesn’t drive much sympathy.

However, part of that is due to Schumer’s emergence into motherhood, as was explored in a Max three-part docuseries Expecting Amy (2020), which makes a lot of sense as it was her first star-led vehicle since I Feel Pretty largely touches on the subject. However, what once made Schumer a mildly subversive lightning rod a decade ago has all but shriveled and died in Kinda Pregnant (2025)–an abysmal, contrived comedy that has all the worst trappings of a Happy Madison production, marking one of the company’s most insufferable efforts to date.

Kinda Pregnant follows middle school teacher Lainy Newton (Schumer), who’s been obsessed with becoming a Mom since she was in grade school. Now in the shadow of her best friend Kate (Jillian Bell) announcing her pregnancy while also navigating a break-up with her ex (Damon Wayans, Jr.), Lainy spontaneously decides to wear a false pregnant belly to lavish in the attention. She goes to Mommy & Me classes, gets priority seating on the subway, and soon hits it off with a young pregnant couple (Brianne Howey & Chris Geere), as well as their single friend Josh (Will Forte). However, in the midst of keeping her belly a secret from her friends, will Lainy learn more about herself and others? Of course she will, because you’ve seen this movie in different variations, cycling through each other over the last 50 years of comedy.

That’s not to say that Kinda Pregnant is dead on arrival from simply its predictable plot. There are examples of the romantic comedy formula that are able to subvert expectations with good comedy, likable performances, and a heart. Kinda Pregnant unfortunately has very little to offer in these departments, and I suspect much of the blame goes to director Tyler Spindel. Frequently collaborating with Happy Madison on a number of recent projects for Netflix, like Father of the Year (2018), The Wrong Missy (2020), and The Out-Laws (2023), Kinda Pregnant suffers from the same sledgehammer subtlety of its humor. Side characters can’t simply exist as quietly funny or witty, but rather obnoxious, writhing lunatics. Lainy’s new friend Megan acts so headstrong and stern that she’s impossible to connect with as a character, and so many of the film’s tertiary characters are eccentrically obnoxious to the point of nausea, Megan’s comically rough drunk husband being a perfect example. These character types frequently appear in Happy Madison comedies, but are extrapolated a hundred times over in Spindel’s films, which drove me into immense frustration.

The core problem with Kinda Pregnant is that it operates from a place of belabored, lazy writing, with zero variety in how the story is told. Lainy’s scheme is destined to fail with no game plan for how to balance this lie, which is a pretty despicable thing to do in the first place. The lie does nothing to strengthen our bond with Lainy as a character, nor does it help us to empathize with her plight of feeling unwanted and the film never justifies her actions. By perpetuating this lie, you’ll quickly understand why she’s alone. All of this leads to her being caught in this lie in a big, public way, with Lainy moping to herself before making amends to all of her friends, etc, etc. It’s the exact kind of tired comedic slop that Netflix pumps out as movies of the week with nothing to grasp onto after the fact.

The only aspect of Kinda Pregnant that works is Will Forte as Lainy’s likable new boyfriend Josh. It’s a peculiar casting that Forte surprisingly fits into quite well as an archetype, providing more than your average nice guy boyfriend. Genuinely, he is the only person from the production of Kinda Pregnant that I’m glad got a paycheck.

D-

Feature image credit to Netflix via Screen Rant