The Afterparty review: Genre-busting whodunnit packed with nods for TV and film geeks
30.01.2022 - 13:39
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Apple's latest comedy, The Afterparty, hits the ground running - unless you're murder victim Xavier who hits it with a sickening thud and surrounded, somewhat surreally, by discarded scampi.
The class of 2006 have gone to their high school reunion but when a handful of the former students head over to the beach-side mansion of now-super rich Justin Bieber-esque classmate (Dave Franco, clearly having a blast) to continue the fun things take a turn very quickly, with him dead before the opening credits start.
Those opening credits have a real Only Murders In the Building feel to them, but don't let that lull you into assuming you know what this show is going to be.
Early on Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) tells a room full of suspects that 'we're all stars of our own movie, the same thing could happen, but we all see it in our own way.'
It's a somewhat heavy-handed but rather neat explanation of the USP of The Afterparty - each character tells the detective what happened from their own viewpoint and in their own way.
And not only does that mean we have more unreliable narrators and motives for murder than you can shake a stick at but also, in the first three episodes alone, a rom-com worthy of Richard Curtis, a Fast and Furious-style action movie and a La-La-Land musical packed with dance numbers and some zinging lyrics as each character uses a different genre to explain exactly what they think's gone on.
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This eight-part murder mystery is packed with talent, from creator-director Chris Miller (one half of the team behind The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street) to an ensemble packed with so much comedic talent