Scrambled – Movie Review and Summary

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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Plot Summary

At 34, Nellie has gone to too many weddings and baby showers, and while she has no desire for a child of her own, right now, she knows she is entering that era where she will become “geriatric.” Which, according to WebMD, starts at 35.

So, with that in mind, Nellie wants to freeze her eggs, but with her job being selling jewelry on Etsy, paying thousands of dollars for the drugs, and the procedure required, is a bit out of her reach. Luckily, her brother helps with the money, but the journey of injecting oneself, dealing with the hormones, and also the regrets of not finding someone worth getting pregnant by he doesn’t help with.

If anything, he tries to keep their dad from talking about Nellie’s ex, who has become the one who got away.

Content Information

• Dialog: Cursing
• Violence: N/A
• Sexual Content: Nudity, Sexual Situations (Implied)
• Miscellaneous: Drinking

General Information

Director(s)	Leah McKendrick
Screenplay By	Leah McKendrick
Based On Work By	N/A
Date Released	February 2, 2024
How To Watch	In Theaters
Genre(s)	Comedy, Young Adult
Film Length	1 Hour 37 Minutes
Content Rating	Rated R
Noted Characters and Cast
Nellie	Leah McKendrick

Character Descriptions

Please Note: This character guide is not an exhaustive list of every cast member, and character descriptions may contain what can be considered spoilers.

Nellie (Leah McKendrick)

With dreams of becoming a jewelry designer but not reaching the point where her work is in demand, Nellie exists in a state where she is trying but hasn’t become. This, unfortunately, can also be said about other aspects of her life. She tries to date, but outside of her last boyfriend, she didn’t find someone who could be “The One.”

Which, with Nellie becoming 34, pressured by her parents, and knowing she has a limited amount of time before pregnancy becomes more of a challenge, that leads to her wanting to freeze her eggs, even though she isn’t sure if she even wants kids.

Review

Notable Performances or Moments

The Struggle of Getting Older & Being Single

While certain things about Nellie’s story is gender specific, there is also some universality to what she is going through. As shown in the trailer, while she may have a certain ideal age range to have a kid, according to science, her brother can have one when he is 70+. Also, the pressure to produce a grandchild is far more pushed onto Nellie than her brother.

However, while the process of freezing eggs and the pressure behind doing that and having children can be seen as gender specific, most of what Nellie goes through is not. Whether it is feeling that, even at 34, it is too soon to have kids or questioning your existence as everyone around you starts their own family, Nellie has a lot of relatable traits.

Heck, I’d even add having memory loss in your lowest moments, which leads you to hit up people you have vaguely named on your phone, thinking that maybe they deserve a second chance. If not, going to places where you were once the hottest thing around, partly for an ego boost.

All of this is played with a sense of comedy, but “Scrambled” still stands firm in exhibiting the feeling that, between mother nature and society, you never have enough time.

You know, as if dying in your 40s is the norm.

Highlights

The Movie Flies By

The pacing in this movie is surprisingly brisk. I’d say it is because, as much as it takes note of how serious and exhausting the process of freezing your eggs is and people’s reaction, it doesn’t dwell on it. If anything, “Scrambled” pokes fun, questions the cost, and uses people’s ignorance to shame them.

This isn’t to say Nellie doesn’t encounter hurtful things being said to her, like by her father, but again, “Scrambled” focuses more so on the comedy than Nellie drowning in tears over not giving her parents grandchildren.

On The Fence

Nellie’s Family and Friends

Regarding Nellie’s family and friends, the majority, if not all, are one note. They are either the well-meaning best friend, the friend who says inappropriate things, the annoying brother, the insensitive father, and the list goes on and on.

To note, Nellie and her journey is more than enough. However, considering part of what triggered this all was all the weddings and baby showers, you’d think you’d get a real sense of her being close to any of these people through some kind of chemistry, rather than each relationship seemingly based on convenience and longevity. You know, so that they could really tap into that feeling of being left behind in such a way that it seems worth over $8,000 for someone like Nellie, who has long leaned towards not being ready to have kids and may not want them ultimately.

Recommendations

Good If You Like

• Watching issues young adults go through that aren’t talked about often

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