The Afterparty Review: Apple TV+’s Comedic Murder Mystery Might Be the Most Inventive TV Show of 2022 (So Far)
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The post The Afterparty Review: Apple TV+’s Comedic Murder Mystery Might Be the Most Inventive TV Show of 2022 (So Far) appeared first on Consequence.
The Pitch: For those familiar with the work of 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord, there are a few constants, a major one being their talent for taking a premise and making it simultaneously very clear and simple and also deceptively complex. Apple TV+’s The Afterparty is a perfect example of this, presenting itself initially as a fairly straightforward murder mystery out of the pages of Agatha Christie, with Tiffany Haddish in the Hercule Poirot role.
On its own merits, that’s an idea that would be enough to inspire interest, and then Miller (who created the series and directs every episode; Lord serves as an executive producer) adds an additional layer: Every episode, which focuses on one potential suspect’s version of events, also utilizes a different genre of entertainment to tell its story, from rom-com to musical to animation to thriller.
Heap on top of that one of the more exciting comedy ensembles assembled in recent memory, featuring Haddish, Sam Richardson, Zoë Chao, Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer, Dave Franco, Jamie Demetriou, and John Early, and there’s a ton to recommend the series as an early favorite of 2022. Even if this review does contain two caveats.
A Good Murder Mystery Needs a Victim… …and the victim, in this case, is Xavier (Franco), an obnoxious pop music star we first meet falling to his death from his luxurious coastal mansion.
Upstairs, inside the mansion, are a bunch of his former high school classmates who were just attending their 15-year high school reunion, including Aniq (Richardson), who was hoping to reconnect with his teenage-era crush Zöe (Chao), and Yasper (Schwartz), who’s hoping that Xavier might lend him some of his music industry success.
So while Detective Danner (Haddish) gathers the stories of those who might have an answer to who killed Xavier, Aniq and Yasper are doing their own investigation into the night’s events — though everyone, including them, is a suspect.
The Afterparty (Apple TV+)
The Genre Game Is Afoot: As mentioned before, each episode not only spotlights a character but tells their story through a unique genre, each of which Miller captures pretty nimbly. These experiments of style don’t overwhelm each episode, thanks to the framing device of the present-day investigation happening in each episode, but do make a lasting impression, to largely positive results.
The issue with the genre experimentation is that sometimes it’s a strong choice that does a great job of reflecting back upon the story and characters — for example, Episode 2 spotlights Barinholtz as Brett using the framework of a modern action movie (Vin Diesel is, ahem, an influence on his performance). It’s a strong choice that highlights just how Brett perceives himself in stark contrast to the reality of his life (which is not quite so action packed).
Overall, the approach is a fun choice that elevates The Afterparty above other mystery series of its type, on the basis of sheer originality, and it rarely holds back any of the actual storytelling. There are instances where the game is less effective, and that’s either because the genre being invoked is a bit too generic to really read properly, or because it’s not as connected thematically to the actual character story being told.
These occasional moments stray over the line into gimmick, but again, they’re only occasional. And if they’re the price of getting to see a full-blown all-cast musical number or an animated descent into a character’s psyche, then they’re worth it.
Best Cast of 2022, So Far: Richardson has been a serial scene-stealer over the years, whether it be as the ever-positive Richard Splett of Veep or, just recently, a mysterious billionaire making trouble on Ted Lasso. Here, he gets the kind of spotlight he’s deserved for years, positioned as the closest thing the series has to a sympathetic protagonist if only by virtue of being the first person to tell his version of events. Does that also position him as the killer? Even if he is, he’s still confirmed his leading man credentials here.
The Afterparty (Apple TV+)
Meanwhile, Schwartz proves himself as another standout, with the role of Yasper not only pushing him on a technical level (the musical episode is not fucking around) but also giving him a chance to go deeper and more character-focused than the roles he typically gets to play. (As opposed to, say, Parks and Recreation‘s Jean-Ralphio, whose idea of self-reflection is to yodel “Pills, baybeee!”)
On a similar note, Glazer as the damaged and troubled Chelsea plays a dark side of the party girl trope with great effectiveness, while Chao and Barinholtz also have the chance to explore greater depth in their characters, as enabled by the genres of their respective episodes.
The Verdict: Beyond all the genre fun happening here, The Afterparty may inspire a lot of comparisons to Only Murders In the Building — not just for its subject matter and graphically-driven opening credits sequence, but for its complicated characters and melancholy tone.
Like that series, the question of whodunnit is a little less important than the journey to discovering why. Critics were provided with only the first seven of eight episodes, with the final episode theoretically revealing the killer (and doing so with a genre that is as yet unknown), and even when the gimmick threatens to overwhelm the narrative, there’s plenty packed into those seven episodes to fuel endless debates and theories about the true identity of the killer.
How that final reveal shakes out will, of course, also help provide the final answer as to whether The Afterparty really works as a series, potentially one that could continue for future seasons. But the fact that we’re eagerly awaiting the answer is all the evidence we need that while it’s early yet, this is one of 2022’s first real standout series.
Where to Watch: The first three episodes of The Afterparty premiere Friday, January 28th on Apple TV+. Subsequent episodes will be released weekly.
Trailer:
The Afterparty Review: Apple TV+’s Comedic Murder Mystery Might Be the Most Inventive TV Show of 2022 (So Far)
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