Babies is more a constructed observation than a traditional documentary. It follows a year in the life of four babies in Namibia, Mongolia, Japan, and the US. It watches them as they develop, without any narration. The only statements the movie makes is in its editing and music. But it lets us come to our own conclusions through juxtaposition and atmosphere, it lets us do our own comparisons of their similarities and differences. It shows their interactions with parents, with siblings, and with animals. It lets us see them giggle and cry. It exposes their curiosity and, most compelling, their cuteness.
At 75 minutes, the movie is short. Even so, it can feel slow at times because it wanders without direction. It has moments of intermittent tension (will the rooster peck out the baby's eyes?) and laughter (seeing the face of a baby pooping, which a nearby cat quickly smells and immediately retreats from). You have to be in the mood for it or it can easily make you upset. Quite frankly, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to get out of it except a simple overview of various living conditions in the developed and developing worlds. All in all it's a pretty breezy way to spend an hour looking at babies, and may be good study during pediatrics to help memorize developmental milestones.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020938/