#PhoebeWallerBridge is perhaps the best screenplay writer of our times. If you loved #Fleabag (https://www.ashoksfive.com/post/fleabag-phoebe-waller-bridge-is-the-best) you should definitely see this one.
ASHOK’s FIVE reviews #Crashing on #NetflixIndia, a six-part millennial sit-com that is a host of disparate adjectives – sharp, weird, filthy and funny; perhaps the best of cutting-edge British humour. It is the story of six twenty-somethings who are parked in an abandoned hospital and each one is fighting his or her own demon. There is Anthony (#DamienMolony) who works as a chef at an African restaurant “We don’t give a fork” and his fiancée Kate (#LouiseFord). Enter Lulu (#PhoebeWallerBridge) who is goofy, delightful and charming. She starts flirting with Anthony and this sets off a series of situations. Also present is the eccentric French artist Melody (#JulieDray) who makes the straightforward Colin (#AdrianScarborough) her muse. And bringing up the rear re Fred and Sam who are bi-sexual. The show is a classic sit-com but replete with foul language, dirty jokes and wild swings of emotion ranging from sweet romance to severe depression. This is not for everyone – watch it if you enjoy off-the-straight-line sharp with and humour bordering on the morose.
1. The setting in the vast and empty but sparse hospital is at once both gloomy as well as reflective of the frame of mind. The millennials are squatting on the property and make no bones about it. The relationships are tenuous and at the same time meaningful. The humour is dark and yet witty. The images are sometimes messy. An enduring image that remains with you long after the show is a drunken Lulu flailing her arms and knees in curry spilt on the floor and the red gravy splattered over.
2. If you liked #Fleabag and #KillingEve, this is a must watch, especially for #WallerBridge fans. Critics have often compared this to the #Friends sit-com and described it as a similar show but with heaps of attitude. The fast-talking Brit accents are sometimes difficult to follow but the jokes including the toilet humour are intelligent and edgy. The emotional moments sewn into the fabric make it worth your while.
3. I watched #Crashing because I simply can’t have enough of #PhoebeWallerBridge. She is earnest and funny as Lulu. One of the best things about the show is how all the characters are fleshed out with so many nuances unlike the two-dimensional caricatures that poor writing throws up.
4. The series is adapted from one of #WallerBridge’s own plays and pretty much deals with similar themes as in #Fleabag – feminism, aimless living and not knowing what to do with oneself. You end up identifying with the situations and the characters because they are so real!
5. Each episode is short approximately twenty minutes or so and this makes the series eminently binge-worthy. It is only when you finish watching it that you realise the multitude of themes that the show tackles – feminism, sexual tension, emotional baggage, sexual orientation, personal finances and building relationships.
#Crashing is difficult to slot into a specific genre. The brilliance of the writing helps raise the show to a cutting-edge series that leaves you yearning for more.
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