In this raucous, wilfully unruly slacker comedy, a twentysomething woman must grapple with not just the pressures of impending maturity but also the ‘ninjababy’ that has snuck inside her seemingly undetected.

Aspiring artist Rakel loves alcohol, drugs and no-strings-attached sex. But weird cravings and weight gain alert her to the buzzkilling fact that she’s (six months in!) with child – and becoming a mother was certainly never in her immediate or future plans. With a pregnancy that’s further along than she thinks, Rakel must navigate a possible new romance with an awkward aikido instructor and what to do about the soon-to-be-born baby – who appears for regular chats in animated form – that threatens to turn her already-messy life upside down.

Based on the graphic novel Fallteknikk by Inga Sætre (who also co-wrote the screenplay), Ninjababy is a bold, irreverent story of an unexpected change and the unapologetically chaotic young woman who must confront it. In allowing Rakel – played with endearing audacity by Kristine Kujath Thorp – to fumble through decisions and come into her own, director Yngvild Sve Flikke expertly tackles taboos, subverts narrative conventions and entertains the audience, all in one rollicking bundle of cinematic joy.

“A raunchy and warm-hearted gender-swapped spin on Knocked Up … Fresh, funny, and feminist, with the year’s most unlikely animated hero at its heart.” – IndieWire