The Festival: Film Review
I am a massive fan of The Inbetweeners so I was obviously onboard with The Festival as soon as I heard the makers of the TV show were making a movie starring Joe Thomas, aka Simon from The Inbetweeners. If you liked their previous work, then you will enjoy The Festival.
Thomas plays Nick, who has just been dumped by his girlfriend Caitlin (Hannah Tointon) at graduation, just before they and a whole group of their friends were due to go to a festival. After wallowing in self-pity and his own juices for weeks, Nick is convinced by his best mate Shane (Hammed Animashaun) to go to the festival anyway, and what ensues is a long weekend of misery, embarrassment and shocking goings on.
If you are familiar with the work of Inbetweeners’ Iain Morris and Damon Beesley then you will know exactly what sort of comedy to expect with The Festival. It won’t be for everyone – some of it is fairly un-PC, but there are plenty of unbearably awkward moments, gross-out moments (one made me feel sick, I’m sure you’ll know if you’ve seen it) and some properly eyebrow-raising stuff.
Thomas throws his all into the role. Nick really does get put through the shit, and Thomas has a lot to do physically. It couldn’t have been a pleasant shoot! I love Thomas, but he literally plays Simon – selfish, whiny, obsessed with girls – so I don’t see why it couldn’t have been an Inbetweeners spin-off movie, like a Simon standalone or something. There are a few moments and lines that made me think of the show (I’ve seen most episodes more than once) and other Inbetweeners stars like Tointon and Theo Barklem-Biggs also don’t help the comparisons.
It was great to watch Thomas and his real-life girlfriend Tointon play off each other. Other standouts were Animashaun – I didn’t know his previous work but he was very likeable – and Claudia O’Doherty as a talkative Australian who has a heart of gold but gets on everybody’s nerves. They had great chemistry. There were other excellent appearances from Jemaine Clement, Noel Fielding and Nick Frost.
I laughed out loud and audibly cringed many times during The Festival. It is a whole lot of fun. It also made me realise that festivals on that scale definitely aren’t up my street. If you liked The Inbetweeners, this will totally crack you up. If you didn’t or aren’t aware of it, this will work if you like your comedy racy, uncomfortable and close to the mark.
In cinemas now