The Inbetweeners Movie
Directed by Ben Palmer
- comedy
The story
High school graduation just wouldn’t be complete without an unchaperoned, uninhibited and unforgettable final holiday. At least that’s what Will, Jay, Simon and Neil think when they book a two-week stay on an exotic Greek island. As their dreams of sun-drenched days and booze-filled nights are left hopelessly unfulfilled, the lads fight their way into the party scene with hilariously humiliating results.
What it’s like
Bright, flat Mediterranean sunlight bleaching a resort town, with hotel pool decks, sticky bars and cramped apartment rooms shot in plain, workmanlike coverage rather than any stylised look. The palette is saturated but unglamorous: blue sea, terracotta, cheap neon and the pale skin of four British boys who burn within an hour. Camera stays close and handheld in the club scenes and settles into simple two-shots for the awkward dialogue, with a sprinkling of pop and cheerful Britpop on the soundtrack and little atmospheric score. The vibe is good-natured, sun-warmed and cringe-prone, the kind of comedy you put on for a lazy afternoon or with a few friends and a bottle of something cheap. Pacing is brisk and episodic, built on escalating set-pieces of embarrassment, while the emotional core is a quiet, affectionate look at four teenage friends whose loyalty survives their own bad decisions and the first hints of drifting apart. Coarse, sexual humour and crude jokes throughout, drunkenness and some rough slapstick, with no real violence and no gore; the discomfort is social rather than harmful. For viewers who want a broad, profane British teen comedy with warmth underneath and no darkness.
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