Chuck Chuck Babyis one of those fabulously rare feel-good movies that stays with you long after you leave the theater. In the vein of other soul-stirring films like Before Sunrise, The Way Back, Billy Elliot, The Full Monty, and even Tarsem’s deeply moving The Fall, writer/director Janis Pugh (Blue Collars, Buttercups) manages to capture our hearts while colorfully revealing the ever-shifting emotional kaleidoscope of regular life.
There’s the longing for something better, the deep comfort of having great friends, and the unbridled joy that emerges from a surprise reunion that can open our hearts so wide that it literally takes our breath away. It’s all here in this powerful and entertaining musical comedy/drama that celebrates the female working class.
Steered by a resilient cast featuring Louise Brealey (Sherlock) and Annabel Scholey (The Split), Chuck Chuck Baby may have a catchy tagline — "a film of love, loss, and music set amongst the falling feathers of a chicken factory” — but it’s so much more than that. It’s a sweet love letter to all of us — a tearjerker, a crowd-pleaser, a heart-pounding triumph.
How the Soundtrack Fuels the Story
Set in industrial North Wales, the stellar supporting cast features Sorcha Cusack (Father Brown, Snatch), Celyn Jones (The Almond and the Seahorse), and Emily Fairn. Described as an “orgasm of female energy,” filmmaker Janis Pugh culls from her own experiences growing up in the very town in which she shoots this film. In that regard, this is a very personal film for Pugh, and it shows in every frame.
In many ways, this story is set in a world of magical realism, where characters can break out into song and dance, but Pugh executes this device in such a grounded way that it comes off as totally believable. Remember all those times you yourself sang along to your favorite tracks playing on the car stereo? Music moves us. These iconic anthems have become the soundtracks of our lives. Pugh knows that. But she also knows how not to push things too far.
A Solid Female Cast Ignites Chuck Chuck Baby
When we meet Helen (Louise Brealey), we discover that she lives in a nondescript home in a traditional North Wales middle-class neighborhood where every house looks the same. She’s divorced, living with her ex-husband, Gary (a terrific Celyn Jones), Gary’s 20-year-old new love, Amy (Emily Fairn), their infant child, and Gary’s ailing mother, Gwen (Sorcha Cusack). That’s a lot. Life has stalled for Helen. She’s trapped and can’t find a way out. Does she even have the internal will to actually move on?
Driving to her stable yet monotonous job at a chicken factory, she begins singing along to a song from the stereo, Neil Diamond’s "I Am… I Said."It’s here we feel the depths of Helen’s plight, and as her gentle tears fall, the song lyrics tell us everything about her: "I am ... I said/To no one there/And no one heard at all/Not even the chair/I am... I cried/I am... said I/ And I am lost and I can't even say why.”
We soon learn more about Helen’s work life, which features a solid core of females who buoy each other through the daily grind and other life matters, reminding us how valuable female friendship can be. We’ve seen these women before in our everyday lives — the kind of people who would do anything for you. It’s a lovely reprieve from life with Gary, yet Gwen emerges as Helen’s only ally and mentor on the homefront. These scenes between Brealey and Cusack strike a nerve, as Gwen rallies in Brealey’s favor.
Unrequited Love Gets Another Chance
Overall, this film moves along in a straight-forward fashion. The arrival of Annabel Scholey’s Joanne triggers Helen, as the two once shared a school-girl crush. Joanne, like Helen, is carrying around grief and trauma. She returns to town after the death of her father, who, funnily enough, lived right next door to Gary’s mum. While Helen has turned inward, disappearing into her insecurities, Joanne is prickly and outspoken. Fittingly, the intro-to-Joanne song is Janis Joplin’s "From Me to You."
As Helen and Joanne get reacquainted at this juncture in their lives, the film evolves into a blossoming love story. Emotional defenses are dropped, and as these two women allow themselves even the briefest moments of vulnerability, somehow, pure joy and the desire to be free from all that loss, grief, and suffering, can no longer be contained.
Editor Rebecca Lloyd makes good effective choices with Pugh’s script, which oftentimes leans heavily into the strong female bonds these factory workers share. The film itself is shot so that it evokes a kind of ethereal otherworld, and with floating chicken feathers and blown dandelion, you cannot escape the symbolism. The feathers may suggest a lightness after a challenge. The dandelion seeds present the possibility for new things to emerge. Both derive from something that has, in effect, run its course — in this case, Helen’s glum circumstances and Joanne’s attempt to clean up her childhood home and move on from her abusive past. Deep? Yes. And brilliant all the same.
One of the Best Indie Films of the Year
All around, you could not ask for a better soundtrack and cast, and the script is so powerfully moving in the way that it explores love and LGBTQ+ themes that it warrants awards attention. Ultimately, Helen and Joanne must confront the truth of their situation, and either change or keep moving along solo as they have for some time. Pugh showcases these women reflecting on their unfulfilled chances to break their barriers and allow themselves to love. Will they? Can we?
In a perfectly threaded creative tapestry of wonder and splendor, Chuck Chuck Baby sees deeply into the human condition. Powerfully moving, it is one of the best indie films to come along this year. Chuck Chuck Baby is now available on VOD and digital platforms like YouTube, Google Play, Fandango at Home, and through Apple TV below:
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