As the downtrodden but determined Helen, Brealey brings subtle notes of conviction to Pugh's broad but generous-spirited crowd-pleaser.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 30, 2025

"Chuck Chuck Baby is a stylish story about two women struggling to find their place in the world, bolstered by two fantastic performances and well-tuned music."

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 18, 2025

This film’s hardened northern exterior masks a beautiful beating heart at its centre. A wonderful film that’s as exultant as it is gloomy, this is one of the best British movies of this year.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 1, 2024

Backed by an almost all female crew, writer/director Janis Pugh’s musical ode to female sisterhood is a flawed but uplifting embrace of celebrating love where you find it.

| Original Score: B- | Jul 30, 2024

Writer-director Janis Pugh creates nuanced characters who pull us in with snappy wit and internalised feelings, finding emotions we can identify with. The narrative kind of meanders in circles, but this colourful film remains sweet and heartfelt.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 23, 2024

There’s nothing quite like the bittersweet, cathartic rush of belting out a ballad... First-time feature director Janis Pugh harnesses this to heart-swelling effect in a gorgeous celebration of female camaraderie, second chances and poultry processing.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 22, 2024

A poignant, audacious and exuberant amalgam of romance, comedy and musical. If The Umbrellas of Cherbourg had a baby with a Ken Loach film, it would look something like Chuck Chuck Baby.

| Jul 22, 2024

While rough around the edges, Chuck Chuck Baby proves a promising start to writer-director Janis Pugh’s feature film career.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 19, 2024

Writer-director Pugh doesn’t conceal her rage at the inhumane ways some men treat women. Her movie is laced with delicate visual and aural flourishes rare in earthy, humour-tinged dramas about the travails of working-class women.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 19, 2024

While I didn’t totally key into the film’s unique tone, I appreciated its commitment to crowd-pleasing joy and the weirdness of its world.

| Jul 19, 2024

Although the story isn’t anything that filmgoers haven’t seen before, Chuck Chuck Baby’s uniquely strange twist on the genre makes for a magnificently entertaining time that doesn’t sacrifice any of the emotional stakes.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 17, 2024

An endearing tale of self-acceptance, wearing its heart fully on its sleeve thanks to the affecting central romance and joyous transformation of its protagonist.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 16, 2024

There is a terrific warmth and emotional generosity to this romantic comedy-drama from the Welsh film-maker Janis Pugh

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 16, 2024

Narratively, it doesn’t completely go against the tide, but Chuck Chuck Baby represents an intriguing and easily lovable alternative to the traditional jukebox musical, one that embodies the full “sort-of-musical” mentality in all its sort-of glory.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 16, 2024

Janis Pugh’s crowdpleasing drama gains novelty from being a sort of karaoke musical—characters periodically break into songs by artists as diverse as The Cascades, Neil Diamond, and Janis Ian.

| Jun 25, 2024

Heartwarming and strange, bittersweet and messy.

| Original Score: A | May 15, 2024

Janis Pugh’s ability to blend crowdpleasing comedy and emotional poignancy should not be underestimated.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 2, 2024

There’s joy there, no matter how much chicken crap rests at your feet.

| Original Score: B- | Sep 22, 2023

Chuck Chuck Baby’s overall impact is heightened by its vivid working-class atmosphere and periodic transformation into a full-fledged jukebox musical.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 21, 2023

This film is energized by a lively soundtrack, to which the characters sing-along and choreograph their movements — not quite a musical, but teetering on the edge

| Sep 20, 2023