Premature review – sunny charm provides screwball energy for surprise-pregnancy comedy

The pram in the hallway is the enemy of good art, or so the famous quote goes. This sunny Scottish comedy, made on a minuscule budget, deals with the bit before the pram, when an art school dropout in her 20s gets unexpectedly up the duff. It’s directed by first-timer Kevin Walls, who gives his film the screwball-ish energy of things being skew-whiffly the wrong way round; a couple are going on their first date at three months pregnant, having a baby at an age most people are putting it off to establish their careers. It’s sweet-natured with just about enough charm to cancel out a couple of thunderously awful comedy moments.

Elle Watson is artist Eilidh, who works as a barista in a museum cafe. She has a friends-with-benefits setup with her flatmate Cameron (James Rottger); he has a job in finance and, after two degrees, a mountain of student debt and years in a mind-numbing entry-level position, he’s finally lined up an interview for his dream job. It would be crazy to have the baby, but Eilidh doesn’t take the abortion tablets. She can’t give Cameron a coherent reason why not; fair enough, it’s her decision, a gut feeling. Walls sensibly doesn’t go anywhere near the pro-choice/anti-abortion debate.

But it is a shame his script seems to naturally click more with Cameron’s point of view as he agonises about how a baby will impact his career. Eilidh cheerfully breezes through pregnancy – though inexplicably she turns mumzilla in one scene, demanding that Cameron help her break into a house to steal a secondhand cot, wearing tights over their heads. It’s a scene that reduces the film’s IQ and likability by about 10%. Elsewhere, there are some moments of gentleness, like Cameron’s lovely dad and his no-nonsense wisdom. “Life doesn’t give two shits about your plans, son.”