It’s the question that nearly every 30-something woman has heard from parents, friends, distant relatives, hell – even strangers in the supermarket. “When are you going to have kids?”  In Scrambled, it’s a question Nellie takes it upon herself to finally unpack.

Scrambled kicks off with Nellie (writer/director Leah McKendrick) attending her best friend Sheila’s (Ego Nwodim) wedding. Like any good best friend, Nellie talks her through her bout of cold feet, affirms their ride-or-die friendship, and then stops her from panic-dosing on Molly when Sheila reveals she’s pregnant. 

Later during the reception, Nellie runs into an old friend Monroe (a great cameo from June Diane Raphael), who she praises for being the epitome of a woman “having it all” – a successful career and a family. But Monroe quickly brings Nellie back down to reality, exposing her expensive fertility treatments and difficulty getting pregnant at 40.

The realization that her biological clock may be ticking faster than she thought ultimately leads Nellie to begin the process of freezing her eggs. However, the decision is just the first step; to preserve even the smallest chance of having kids in the future, Nellie will have to shell out thousands of dollars and undergo weeks of medications and injections — all while under the stress of trying to figure out her life’s long-term plans right now. 

I was thoroughly impressed by Scrambled; I don’t think I’ve seen a comedy that so accurately captures a specific female experience since Bridesmaids. The movie covers fertility and having kids in an all-encompassing way I’ve rarely seen on screen. Though it often seems like we reduce the subject to a tickbox (Do you want kids? Check yes or no.), Scrambled works to unravel the expectations, assumptions, and challenges inherent to saying yes (or saying maybe). 

By following Nellie’s journey, we see how factors beyond personal choice play into her decision to have kids one day. There’s the social pressure from being surrounded by couples with kids and what seems like constant baby shower invites. The pressure from her family, as she receives baby shoes as an “encouragement” gift and her father keeps asking about her ex. The financial pressure, because while raising a kid is expensive, so is attempting to freeze your eggs or undergo fertility treatments to have kids later. And of course, there’s the biological pressure that if Nellie waits too long to make these decisions, her body will decide for her. (A pressure Nellie notes men don’t have to face.)

Leah McKendrick as Nellie in 'Scrambled'

Throughout it all, Scrambled does a great job walking the line between comedy and drama. You’ve got your laugh-out-loud funny moments for sure (“I don’t even know if I want kids! I’ve seen Euphoria!”), but it also doesn’t shy away from the darker, more emotionally challenging parts of the story. The movie touches on miscarriage, abortion, reproductive loss therapy, and the way the decision to have kids can make or break relationships, on top of how physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding the process of freezing your eggs is. This story will make you laugh and tug on your heart from start to finish. I really admire McKendrick’s work bringing this one to the big screen.

Scrambled premieres in theaters February 2.