I imagine a punch in the stomach feels similar to the sensation of watching millennial tragicomedy ‘Chubby Funny’: kind of painful, definitely uncomfortable and slightly surreal. The story, of an middle-class graduate failing to adult effectively, is indulgent. It’s a self-centred tale of privilege, but the feels are palpable, and it’ll certainly resonate with anyone who’s ever been a struggling city-based creative (full disclosure: that’s me).
Oscar (Harry Michell) has given himself a year to make it as an actor in London, and so far all it’s brought him is a gig as a giant squirrel in a chocolate bar advert and a whole heap of crushing disappointment. While his BFF and roommate Charlie (Augustus Prew) is on the cusp of a promising stage career, Oscar has been categorised as ‘chubby funny’ by his agent (Alice Lowe) and life isn’t looking great.
His youthful joy and playful personality soon self-destruct under the weight of daily drudge and melancholy, as Oscar flails, struggling with setbacks, shit jobs, rent payments, unwise romantic entanglements and expectations that are wildly at odds with his grown-up reality. He’s a hopeless, green-eyed man-child in the midst of a post-university existential crisis, and he’ll make you cringe and concur in equal measure.
