The Baby

Creators Robins-Grace and Gaymer are making more than just a feminist statement about the burdons put upon parents (moms). They have also found a smart way to look at the discussions of generational trauma that we’ve also seen on shows like Netflix’s Russian Doll and Prime Video’s Transparent.

It is very well done. ... It is very funny.

The way the show is put together, from the performances to the score to the direction — which especially works overtime on both sides of the horror-comedy coin — allows for it to work as an effective piece of storytelling instead of a parody.

“The Baby” really seems to be having fun the more it leans into its Brothers Grimm-adjacent DNA. Rather than a Rumplestiltskin type sent to hound Natasha until she breaks, it’s a worldless little tyke in a 15-pound package.

The show takes an unfortunate turn at a certain point, when it feels the need to take the themes it has been adroitly finessing and make them explicit and grindingly literal. ... Regardless, there’s pleasure in de Swarte’s portrayal of the dogged, take-no-prisoners Natasha and in the sweetly addled performance of the newcomer Amber Grappy as Natasha’s younger sister. And there’s the baby.

Any fan of demonic-kid horror will obviously be a natural mark for this series, as might fans of British horror comedies. That said, it’s hard not to feel as though a lot has been left on the table. Given the premise—again, let me repeat, a demon baby!—one would not expect this series to feel so repetitive and, at times, even restrained, from the costume choices to the disaster scenes. There’s an excellent satire in here and also a blood-curdling horror story, but it seems neither has quite learned how to walk.

Given its thin and derivative premise, not to mention a protagonist so churlish even her own friends and family can’t stand to be around her, it’s a wonder how The Baby ballooned from a blastocyst of an idea to a fully gestated four-hour event.