Please Baby Please

In Amanda Kramer's Please Baby Please, Suze (Riseborough) and Arthur (Melling) are a married couple living in Manhattan sometime in the 1950s. In front of their apartment building one night, they witness a street gang called the Young Gents murder a couple of people. Arthur is immediately attracted to the Brando wannabe gang member, Teddy (Glusman), and spends most of the film fantasizing about him. Suze, for her part, is all wound up and ready to be taken, but alas … she has no takers, so she spends most of her time fantasizing about the appliances in the apartment upstairs, owned by neighbor Maureen (Moore).

When not thinking about fucking other people/dishwashers, the couple discusses their issues with each other, like how Suze just wants to be the man sometimes or wants Arthur to be more of one, and how Arthur feels like he doesn’t need to conform to manly ideals, like being good at sports, etc.

Wait, what if I said Please Baby Please was like if The Wild One, West Side Story, and John Waters all got together and made a baby? Impossible, you say. Ah, but you’d be wrong, because that’s what this film is exactly like, with a pinch of Lynch for good measure. Made with what looks like my son’s performing arts middle school musical theatre’s production budget, Kramer certainly makes the most of what little she has in her follow-up to the equally divisive (for different reasons) Ladyworld. The production design and costumes were all great, the lighting and cinematography were amazing, and, as always, Riseborough is tremendous and thrilling to watch, with 100% commitment to the performance. Melling (who I can only assume will be starring as Morrissey in a future biopic) is terrific, too, as Arthur. He just wants to give himself to Teddy. I mean, who doesn’t? Moore isn’t in the film much, but she sure does make an impression with that wig.

There’s little doubt that the audience for Please Baby Please is fairly small. Of those who will seek this out, they’re either going to really dig it or just absolutely loathe it. There is no middle ground here, but Riseborough’s performance deserves to be seen by everyone.