korinez

Amandaland is a spin-off series from the comedy series Motherland which is, in my opnion one of the best comedy series of all time. Let me explain why: there's not another series that would show the struggles of motherhood as accurately as this one, and in a way that makes you laugh your face off. Amanda played by the beautiful Lucy Punch surely was a highlight so I was excited when I discovered Amandaland.

The only small doubt I had was whether Amanda was a deep enough character to carry her own show. Lucy Punch is the most talented actress but there's only so much you can do with a script that's given to you. That fear actually kind of came true here.

Amanda is a shallow Insta-mom, an aspiring influencer and a charming woman who, unfortunately, is not given the same depth as the protagonists of Motherland were. I am 5 episodes in and while the show is on overall quite funny, I almost never get to relate to Amanda as a character. She's not hard-working, she's not kind, she's not a particularly great parent (she tries to be one but we don't see any strong bond between her and her kids) - she's just not relatable at all.

In a way, the series is a bit unqiue in that way because usually, when a series has a "loser" character (and Amanda is undeniably a "loser" main hero), that character usually has something endearing about them, either a weakness, or a talent, or a dream. There are moments when Amanda is endearing but there's just not many of those. In fact, there's too few.

That makes the show feel quite on-the-surface, just like Amanda. It is a nice comfort watch if you treat it as a series of comedy sketches about - not even parenthood at this point but a specific middle, sometimes upper middle class families from the UK. Some characters do have a little but of development but it's rare and just not deep enough. A busy working business owner (not trying to spoil here) decides to finally go on an vacation (not Amanda). Wow, what a character arch.

A TV show has to have a story and depth which is something I have not actually realized before watching this one. To my opinion, season 3 of Motherland which heavily leaned into drama was too much - but seasons 1 and 2 are still a exemplar of a perfect combination of character depth and comedy.

After all, real comedy is only possible when things get deep - unlike Amandaland ever does.

I believe the reason this movie has such a low rating on IMDB is that it uses a very non-Western way of story-telling which to me, as a Russian, felt very Checkhovian. Chekhov found a great deal of humor in situations which are actually quite sad, like a cheating scandal or worker's exploitation or anything. This feels confusing to someone who's not used to this type of a perspective because you are not sure whether to laugh or be sad. As a Russian, you kind of do both while praising Chekhov's genius and the ability to hilghlight the ridiculousness of life.

And this is what this film does best. The cocky billionaire, the charming and superficial wife (but it's not a typical one, Isla Fisher portrays a very interesting character actually), the awkward teenage son who hates his dad and is deeply jealous of him - this is a talented research on various types of people and situations, this film. And they're hilarious. A lot of them could be made into festival-winning short films, so many little stories packed there, the funniest one probably be the daughter trying to film a reality but treating it so seriously that she tries to act like the screen version of herself in real life.

The story is not afraid to get more serious towards the end (although the tension is building up throughout the first hour or so). Like Chekhov said, you can't have a gun on stage and not have anyone use it in the end of the story. The conflict gets resolved and that's, to me, where the story gets the most interesting and the last few minutes of the film were the best to me. That was when - to avoid spoilers - that was when it became clear that unless you break the vicious circle, you become a part of it.

All in all, I think it's a very talented, cinematic movie (operators did a great job, it's meaningfully shot) that had the perfect pace, a strong story and a great deal of humour. Not surprised it is British, that is the country that famously appreciates dark humour and powerful story-telling. Definitely not a 5.8 rating.