When the Academy Awards are right around the corner, you always tend to see other movies starring the contenders pop-up on streaming services. Such is the case for this week’s installment of our Review Stew. He’s up for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for A Real Pain, but this week we are looking at a leading role for Kieran Culkin in…Infinity Baby (2017).
Title: Infinity Baby
Director: Bob Byington
Released: March 11, 2017 (SXSW Film Festival – United States)
Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes
Available to stream on: Prime Video and Tubi
In a nondescript but not-too-distant future, abortion is illegal. However, due to a stem cell research project gone wrong, liberals and conservatives have come to an agreement. A company by the name of Infinity Baby has stumbled upon a way to provide 3-month old babies that will never age.
That’s right, you now have the ability to have yourself a forever baby.
And the best part? They rarely cry and only poop once a week.
Neo (Nick Offerman), is the CEO of Infinity Baby and has turned it into quite the lucrative business. He’s employed his nephew, Ben (Kieran Culkin) to market Infinity Baby. For better or worse, Malcolm (Martin Starr) and Larry (Kevin Corrigan) are the two who are responsible for closing the deal with prospective parents and delivering the baby.
You’d think that people in roles of providing a child to someone would have their own lives in order to a certain extent, right? Well, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to Ben.
When it comes to relationships, Ben checks out the moment things start to get serious. We learn that when commitment is inevitable, Ben enlists the help of his mother, Hester (Megan Mullally). Knowing that she is harsh on all of his girlfriends, he uses her not liking them as an excuse as to why they need to end things.
But what would happen if there was ever a girlfriend that Hester took a liking to?
If that all sounded a little short on substance, well, that’s because it is.
Honestly, that’s my biggest complaint with Infinity Baby (2017). We have interesting characters and a unique premise, but it’s lacking in depth.
The ensemble cast is just phenomenal here. There’s plenty of humor, albeit dry and deadpan. But dry and deadpan serve Martin Starr and Kevin Corrigan quite well. I wish we could have had more time with their characters, both together and individually. Same goes for Nick Offerman, you could argue that he was criminally underutilized here. Megan Mullally is wonderful as always, the twist with her character is when she truly shines. And Kieran shows again that he can really dial-in when it comes to playing an unlikeable jerk with oddly charming attributes.
Had Infinity Baby (2017) been longer that it’s brisk 80-minute runtime, I think one could argue that the cast is wasted and starving for more than what they’re given. However, given the brief runtime, I feel that it’s the cast who saves the film from itself.
Is this something that I think you should go out of your way to watch? No.
But it’s worth watching at least once for the cast and the premise.
So, what say you?
Have you seen Infinity Baby (2017)? If so, what did you think of it?
Tell me your thoughts on it in the comments below or by finding me on Bluesky!
As always, if you’re curious to see what else I’ve been watching, you can follow me over on Letterboxd.