Content warning: this article contains references to mental illness and suicide. If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, do ensure that you reach out to a staff member whom you trust or a free helpline service such as the Samaritans at https://www.samaritans.org/ or WannaTalkAboutIt? at https://wannatalkaboutit.com
Inside is a Netflix comedy special written, performed, and directed by Bo Burnham, a 30-year-old American comedian/musician. The special, consisting of satirical comedic songs, interspersed with brief satirical commentary, is confined to a single room. It was written and filmed by Burnham himself over the course of 2020, as the pandemic forces Americans to stay ‘inside’, the premise of the special. As accurate of a description as I can think of comes from the Guardian’s review, describing the special as a “claustrophobic masterpiece”. If any comedy could be described as a ‘masterpiece’ then this, in my admittedly inexpert opinion, definitely counts. The apparent claustrophobia is the special’s most interesting element, as despite not being mentioned once, the pandemic casts a long shadow. The claustrophobia of Inside only means something because it is enforced, and because the feelings of depression, listlessness, ennui and mundane chaos it depicts are something everyone has had to deal with recently.
As a film, I really doubt Inside could have been made at any other point in history. Most specials are filmed over the course of one performance of a comedy show to a live audience, usually as part of a larger tour. Inside is solely digital, without a film crew or audience ever having seen it in the flesh. This has two results: it’s fantastically visual in a way that a live performance never can be, through its use of lighting, editing and sound, a feat of technical mastery. It is also painfully open.
Despite being comedic, many parts of Inside are not funny. It fluctuates between being a highly produced electro-pop fever dream, and a ‘candid’ looks behind the curtain. During the course of the pandemic and subsequently the special, as Burnham’s hair and beard get longer and scragglier, and as he falls into a more and more depressive state, we see a sort of digital Robinson Crusoe take shape. At times it feels as if you’re watching a man trapped in a bunker go slowly insane.
Inside can be a very uncomfortable watch, exploring harrowing and bleak themes; mostly the push and pull tension of the observed and observer dynamic of performance, that dominates the internet and its content creators. The format is a pastiche of the tropes of internet content creators, calling back to Burnham’s roots, making music videos in his bedroom in 2005. Most of this discomfort stems from Burnham’s brutal honesty, far more unembellished than your typical YouTube mental health confessional. This is not the first time Burnham has dealt with these themes. His 2018 film Eighth Grade dealt heavily with coming of age with social media and in his last special, Make Happy in 2016, he exclaims, “I’m not honest for a second up here”. Inside goes to great lengths to make you aware of this dynamic, directly asking the viewer what they’re doing, if they’re paying attention, if it’s ‘on in the background’. It makes the audience hyper-aware of their own gaze, this dynamic is made impossible to forget when he is seen mid-break down, stammering or crying in candid moments. Whilst watching him break down, there is always the question in the back of your mind: is this unscripted emotion, or a perfectly planned performance? It also forces us to question how honest Burnham is being in the whole special. In the case of Inside, I’m fairly sure the questioning is half the point.
Inside manages to fluently mix dark discussions of suicide, eclectic musical comedy, and moments of heart-breaking empathy. It is insightful, clever, and raw. This article covers a tiny fraction of things I could say, from how it made me feel, to a really in depth look at the fantastically detailed symbolism, metaphor, lyrics and imagery, none of which I could do without spoilers. I probably couldn’t even name every emotion Inside made me feel, but oh boy were there many.
