Sex After Kids (2013)

Sex After Kids is an incredible story about life, love and family and how easy it is to drift apart when relationships evolve and partners shift their focus to the offspring of their union. Jeremy LaLonde has written a script filled with hilarious one-liners and impossibly funny situations that are real and honestly portrayed by an incredibly talented cast. From the opening scene through the uplifting finale this movie is a genuine crowd pleaser. Sex After Kids is a movie you'll want to own and watch over and over again. It's sweet and funny and just the perfect Indie movie. If you want to laugh, feel good and walk away with a big, silly smile then watch this movie!

I was lucky enough to attend a screening of the film Sex After Kids screened at the Royal House Theater on January 11th along with the film's director, producer, many of the cast and crew, and a room full of contributors and fans. To be fair it was a film friendly audience, but amongst the crowd were a few who went in with no investment in the movie at all and from them I found they had the same reaction as did the fans: it was hilarious. The movie would be categorized as a comedy. But what does that really mean? According to Wikipedia, (the source of all knowledge, right?), a comedy is, "to amuse and elicit laughter from the audience." Check, check, and check. Then it goes on to list a series of types and Sex After Kids doesn't exactly fit any of them. It's a bit of a romantic comedy, but also fits some of the criteria to be considered a "black comedy" except, quite frankly, it's too sweet and earnest for the way it tackles the 'taboo' subjects to fit into that category completely. It's a similar to ensemble comedies such as Home for the Holidays, Beautiful Girls, and Something's Gotta Give but the cast is loosely affiliated yet connected like in such movies as Love, Actually or New Year's Eve. So I'd like to propose a new category. Since it's an assembled ensemble comedy I suggest: Assenembled comedy. You heard it here first. Sex After Kids gathers a fantastic cast of six degree separated parents as they deal with relations after having kids. In some cases the issues that are raised are 20 years after the birth of their kids. It's like a coming of age story for adults about a time in life no one ever seems to talk about. There are so many (too many?) movies about twenty-something brats transitioning from college life into being an actual adult. But what about everyone who has done that, since life doesn't stop once you give up keg parties, settle down, and have a family? I thought the movie was funny, honest, even if some of the situations were "exaggerated for comedic effect" (thanks Wikipedia!) and ultimately sweet. Amanda Brugel is my new hero. Zoie Palmer and Paul Roger Amos made me cry. And Kris Holden-Ried did that thing where at one point he says a line but turns that line into a whole story. Also, it looked beautiful, the locations felt authentic to each character and not overly staged. And I felt like although the movie wasn't detail heavy into each character that we got a full sense of who everyone was as people.I wish I could sum up the movie easily, but it's actually the type of movie that after you see it for days later you and your friends will be talking about various scenes and laughing again as you go through the funniest bits you can recall to the ones you suddenly remember again.

My husband and I had the good fortune to see Sex After Kids at the Toronto screening, and we both couldn't stop talking about how funny and smart and heartfelt it was. If you're married with kids, at least one plot line will speak to you with a resounding "oh god yes!" and you'll feel not quite so alone in your own "after kids" experiences. The ensemble cast is wonderful, the writing clever and fresh, and the material is refreshingly raw and honest with a heavy dose of humor. To quote my husband as we were leaving the theater, "Every married couple with kids should see this," and I'd also add that there's plenty here for single/childless viewers to enjoy as well. We can't wait to see it again, and are highly anticipating Jeremy LaLonde's future projects.

I went with a friend to see this at the Santa Barbara Film Fest... and what a wonderful treat this film is. Three of the actors were from a show I watch on television, Lost Girl, so that was my main reason for wanting to see the movie. The whole film was just so much fun and my friend and I laughed so hard, we'll have to see it again as we might have missed something. The cast was fantastic and everyone had great chemistry along with superb comedic timing. Sometimes ensemble casts can be a dud... but this cast was simply fantastic. Additionally, the stories were fresh and the whole concept was just great. Would definitely see this again on a big screen and recommend to all my friends "Go see this film" you won't be sorry!