Four years on from the second (and final?) Inbetweeners movie, the creator of the original show Iain Morris returns with one of the stars, Joe Thomas, in a film that on the surface looks very similar to the kind of comedy that made their names. But can it achieve the same sort of success?
Thomas plays Nick, a slightly wimpy post-graduate who is in a state of mourning after getting dumped. He is cajoled into heading along to a music festival to bounce back, only for a whole host of problems to be waiting for him in the fields.
After lampooning lads holidays and gap year travel, Morris turns his satirical lens to music festivals in what is basically a third Inbetweeners film. Thomas awkward, self-pitying lead wanders into a world of tents, drugs and rock and roll in the same way Will and co did, with the same chaotic and often gruesome results.
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Still, its a formula that works. The festival setting allows for any number of mishaps and colourful characters to organically drift in and out of Nicks life, such as stand-out Claudia ODoherty as a traveller he and best friend Shane (Hammed Animashaun) meet along the way. We also get a glimpse of the world they are escaping through characters such as Jermaine Clements brilliant turn as an overbearing parent. Other than that, its a cavalcade of terrifying looking characters offering drugs, experiences and painful looking piercings.
None of its particularly new, but its executed in a funny and familiar way. Morris strength lies in the comedy of disappointment; in this case the romantic notion of a music festival slowly dissolving into the messy, muddy reality. Thomas spends the film in various stages of undress reacting to everything, with probably the most entertaining moment involving a fellow reveller dressed as a Smurf (played by Emma Rigby). If youve been to one of these weekends before, youll recognise all the archetypes immediately.
Despite his self-absorbed nature, the star makes Nick a sympathetic lead. For all his whimpering, hes an underdog that you cant help but want to see succeed, hiding a salient message about growing up within the many jokes about bodily fluids. Its an impressive performance given that, played different, Nick may simply have come off as annoying.
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It takes a little while to get going, but once its does The Festival is a funny take on a British summer institution. For festival veterans it may bring back a few painful memories; and for novices it will be a chance to live vicariously through our hero without getting your wellies wet.
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