Sex After Kids

Sex After Kids is a Canadian comedy film, written and directed by Jeremy Lalonde and released in 2013. The film features an ensemble cast, and depicts various ways in which adults struggle to reconcile their sex lives with the demands of parenthood. The film was funded in part by a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, which raised $61,000. Among the ensemble cast are tv show regulars Kristen-Holden Reid (Lost Girl/The Listener), Zoie Palmer (Lost Girl), Ennis Esmer (The Listener), Paul Amos (Lost Girl), Mary Krohnert, Kate Hewlett, Jay Brazeau, Mimi Kuzyk, Katie Boland, Amanda Brugel, Peter Keleghan, Shannon Beckner, Gordon Pinsent and Kristin Booth.

The movie shows these people, who are connected, struggling to keep an active sex life post having kids. Jules & Ben haven’t had sex in a year and with a 6 month old baby and obsessing about laundry & house work Jules just isn’t into it. Their sex therapist’s advices them to have sex every night for 100 nights straight, which doesn’t work out and Jules only getting aroused by the vibration of her washer against her body and later guide them after both of them were close to cheating on each other. Gage, a single father with a young son, on the other hand has no problem in attracting women but finds silly reasons to stop seeing them (including one funny scene in which the woman he is having sex with calls him ‘daddy’ putting him off). He joins a “mom group” for support in raising his kid. His sister Jody & her wife Larissa are a lesbian couple with a baby and their relationship is being tested by their frequent disagreements. Gage & Jody’s parents Horton & Dolores are middle-aged grandparents who having just had their youngest daughter Markee move out to her own place are looking to spice things up at home. Although it was Horton’s idea, he is initially overwhelmed by the revelation that his wife has never had an orgasm by him and by the different things she wants to try out.

Lous is the scene stealer of the movie, a British expat in Toronto and single mother who lives with her nanny brother Payton. She had decided to go the donor sperm route and have a child wanting to love someone but is struggling to have a social life and feels that she is horrible with babies, especially since Payton seems to be so good at it. He advices her to not hold out for a relationship but go for casual sex but they backfire on her. Vanessa, a former model & tv presenter, who had a son is seen less as a sexual being and more as a housewife & mom by her husband Sean, who runs a successful business. She tries to lose the baby weight and look attractive for him but the initial efforts are hilariously unsuccessful. As Sean seems less into having sex with her, she undergoes a make over to make herself more appealing and it seems to work but she later catches him having sex with a single mom named Bethany, who is the same mom group with Gage, Lou & Jules. Gage asks Lou out on a date and she cooks dinner for him but accidentally hand him a glass spiked with a heavy dose of Valium, which she meant to take herself to calm her down, and he falls asleep in her living room.

Markee tries to seduce Ben and almost succeeds and Jules kisses Gage but they manage to work things out by the end. Vanessa leaves Sean and joins the mom group and becomes friends with Bethany; Gage & Lou try dating again while Jody & Larissa work out their issues. They all meet for Gage’s son’s birthday party at a park as Horton & Dolores, who have managed to spark things sexually, go on a cruise. It’s a funny and sweet movie and it has it’s moments. It’s definitely low budget and nothing really stands out; look at it as actors who know each other having some fun while being filmed. The majority of the cast are parents of young children and signed onto the film before the script had even been written. They were encouraged to offer up their insight and own experience and stories of the film. I would rate it a solid 7.5 outta 10!