Streaming on: Apple TV+
‘Main Character Syndrome’ is a favourite ailment among Millennials: the idea that everyone is the protagonist of their own internal film, a cinematic adventure constantly happening in their own head. TrustPhil LordandChristopher Miller— the latter of whom breaks out on his own for much of this series, taking solo directing and ‘created by’ duties — to take this concept and run with it for an entire television series.
The pair are proven pop-culture savants, and here they take the witty, self-aware trappings of their efforts on Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse or 21 Jump Street to another level entirely. While the most obvious initial influence in this story of a party-gone-wrong is the murder-mystery genre (the Saul Bass-esque title sequence neatly doffs a blood-stained cap to Alfred Hitchcock), this is really a selection-box of film and TV tropes. Nearly every member of the cast gets a chance to be the Main Character, with the events of one murderous night replayed multiple times in different styles, depending on which unreliable narrator is telling it. Thus we are treated to a romantic-comedy episode, an action movie, even a musical. (And that’s just the first three episodes.)
It’s an ambitious set-up, and the tonal rollercoaster is certainly one you’ll need to grab on to tightly — the first episode alone veers from black-and-white, arthouse mood-piece to Richard Curtis-esque soppiness within the space of ten minutes. (“We switched genres into some abstract bullshit,” as one character drily notes.) But if you can calibrate your brain to the wackiness of the premise, it’s hugely rewarding, finding new, inventive ways to tell a familiar potboiler. Even in the occasional dip, it sustains a blinding, always-surprising energy, as befits the minds behind The Lego Movie. (Fans of ‘Everything Is Awesome’ should gird themselves for the musical delights of Episode 3’s earworm, ‘Yeah, Sure, Whatever’.)
Lord and Miller have somehow made murder look bloody funny with ease.
It’s all delivered through a true ensemble, a proper Who’s Who of contemporary comedy, and there’s a real thrill to seeing these hugely talented comic actors not only spark and fizz off each other, but embracing both the pastiche and the profound: keeping their characters grounded even when the show self-consciously isn’t. Tiffany Haddish keeps the ship afloat — she was born to play a no-nonsense detective serving sass and withering stares in equal measure — but Sam Richardson is proving to be the standout, his Hugh Grantian hero giving the series its bumbling, awkward heart.
Given how much is going on — the genre-hopping, the genuine mystery, more red herrings than a fish market — it’s impressive plate-spinning. Time will tell if it can be maintained to the finish line. But, much like last year’s Only Murders In The Building, Lord and Miller have somehow made murder look bloody funny with ease.
