(Re-send) "Bo Burnham: Inside" is brilliant, funny, beautiful, and absolutely devastating
Whoops! Accidentally only sent this to paying subscribers yesterday — here it is again, but for everyone this time!
For the next bonus issue later this week, I’ve got another horror movie to talk about! I’ll be telling y’all about Séance, which is from the same guy who wrote You’re Next and The Guest, two movies I love. To find out if I also love this movie, click below!
Bo Burnham has had one of the best and most interesting career trajectories of the early YouTube stars. Beginning with him as a teen in 2007 rapping in his bedroom, eventually putting out meticulous and hilarious Netflix specials, writing and directing Eighth Grade (one of the best movies of 2018), and then being perfectly cast in Promising Young Woman.
But last week, Burnham released what is probably the most ambitious and impressive work of art of his career so far, his new Netflix special, Bo Burnham: Inside. Unlike his previous specials that were performed in front of a live audience, this entire special was performed and filmed by Burnham alone, in a single room, over the last year of the pandemic. And unsurprisingly, it has all the brilliance of Burnham’s work, but combines it with the depression and devastation of the past year, and with the world in general.
In short: it’s dark as hell, and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen.
I don’t want you to think that Bo Burnham: Inside isn’t funny, because it is — his wordplay, songwriting, and insight into the world is better than ever (the video above is one of the more lighthearted songs, but there are others). He’s also grown tremendously as a filmmaker — it’d be difficult to describe his cinematography here as anything but masterful.
But Burnham also gets very raw about his emotional state and the state of the world, and as much as there are very funny moments, there are very sad, depressing moments, too. As the special progresses, his hair and beard get longer, and the weight of everything that’s happening to him and around him become more and more evident. (I don’t want to spoil any of it for you, but songs like “Welcome to the Internet” and “Funny Feeling” gave me absolute chills.)
At points, he quite literally bares himself to the world, and if this weren’t a comedy special that Burnham released on purpose on Netflix, at points it almost feels inappropriate to have such an intimate look at his soul. I realize he’s a performer, but what makes this special so well done is that Burnham makes it impossible to tell what’s real and what’s just a performance, and whether there’s any difference between the two.
This is a comedy (“comedy”) special that has stuck with me for days after watching it, and while it may not be something everyone is in the headspace to handle right now, I hope that at some point, when you’re ready, you’ll do yourself a favour and watch it.
That’s all for me today, gorgeous. Talk to you soon.
Love,
Kat
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