The Inbetweeners
2008
Original language: English
- comedy
The story
Suburban teenage friends Will, Simon, Jay and Neil, students at Rudge Park Comprehensive, attempt to navigate the social scene, attract members of the gentler sex, and saunter amongst the cool crowd. However, despite their best efforts, the four hapless lads usually end up on the side of the nerds.
What it’s like
Bright, flat English daylight over suburban cul-de-sacs, shopping-centre fluorescents, and the drab interiors of a sixth form, shot handheld and close so the four boys crowd the frame and the camera lurches after them through awkward silences. The sound is pop-chart needle drops, bedroom-floor chatter, and the sharp snap of a joke landing badly. Its vibe is scruffy, self-deprecating and warm, the sort of thing you put on for a lazy evening or a comfort rewatch when you want to laugh at other people's humiliation without feeling mean. Pacing is brisk and sitcom-quick, with cringe escalating in set pieces and quiet, slightly sad beats slipped between them. The emotional register stays comic, but the arcs are real: four teenagers who badly want to belong and keep getting it wrong, with one of them carrying a home life that is quietly falling apart. Intensity is high on crude and sexual humour (frequent swearing, explicit talk about sex and bodies, drunkenness, a few rough physical gags) but there is no real violence and nothing graphic on screen beyond its raunch. It is for people who enjoy British teen comedy with a sharp, filthy edge and a soft heart, and who don't mind their laughs coming from embarrassment.
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