The paradox on the coronary heart of The Rehearsal is that this: it’s a comparatively small present that depends on important buzz and phrase of mouth for its success, however it is usually unattainable to elucidate to a newcomer. Right here, let me strive.
The Rehearsal is an unscripted comedy wherein Nathan Fielder prepares members of the general public for giant, uncomfortable real-life moments by meticulously rehearsing each conceivable means the second may play out. In episode one, Fielder meets a person who wants to inform a co-worker that he lied about parts of his training. Fielder hires a lookalike to play the a part of the co-worker, will get the lookalike to furtively interview the true co-worker to study her mannerisms, builds a precise reproduction of the bar wherein the tough dialog is to happen (proper all the way down to the half-deflated balloon caught within the air-con) and spends day after day going over the dialog, utilizing each permeation of emotion thinkable, in order that the real-life dialog can go as easily as doable. It’s mainly Synecdoche, New York: The Actuality Present.
Should you’re questioning why HBO would dedicate what should be an impossibly hefty funds to repeat an impenetrable art-house film from 14 years in the past, I've dangerous information. The brain-breaking clarification I gave above solely represents the tip of the iceberg. As a result of, as The Rehearsal wears on, a distinct story begins to emerge. Fielder tries to assist a girl who isn’t certain if she is prepared for motherhood by giving her a toddler to rehearse with. Or, fairly, a collection of youngsters who're a) seamlessly shipped out and in of her (faux) home in shifts to adjust to baby labour legal guidelines, and b) designed to age quicker than a traditional baby, in order that the girl can expertise the total sweep of motherhood in a condensed time. Quickly, Fielder decides to affix in with the experiment, changing into the faux father to the faux youngsters and the faux husband to the true lady, and every part begins to unravel. The ultimate episode, which features a scene the place one of many preschool actors screams in anguish as a result of he's unable to discern the distinction between actual life and the present’s assemble, could rely as probably the most upsetting half-hour of tv in latest reminiscence.
As such, The Rehearsal has fielded no finish of criticism from viewers, who've accused it of pushing exploitation to breaking level. And that, you observed, is precisely what Fielder wished. As a result of what The Rehearsal is actually about is the murky area between fiction and actuality.
Taken at first look, The Rehearsal is solely a merciless actuality present; one which delights in pushing its topics by such a cruel parade of exploitation that the entire thing begins to really feel distasteful. However dig deeper and you can be forgiven for considering that the true victims are us. A few of the present’s situations are just a bit too pat, and a number of the viewpoints slightly too excessive, to be convincing. To place it merely: is the entire thing scripted? May or not it's that the truth Fielder has apparently meticulously constructed can also be only a assemble?
It is rather simple to fall down this rabbit gap. Reddit, for instance, has tied itself in knots attempting to work out which parts of The Rehearsal are actual and that are faux. Lengthy YouTube essays have appeared, making an attempt to prise aside the present’s dense layers of that means. When a number of the topics started providing their providers on Cameo, an internet site that permits celebrities to ship personalised video messages to followers, it out of the blue made every part worse. Had been they doing it as a result of they have been using out their 5 minutes of fame? Had been they actors who wanted the cash? Or did Fielder mandate it, as a result of he knew that we knew that seeing them on Cameo would confuse the problem and he's an evil puppet-master hellbent on messing with us? The Rehearsal leaves you questioning the character of actuality itself, which is a heavy load for a half-hour comedy.
We could by no means know the reality. Fielder, in a bid to protect the thriller, has not performed any press to advertise the present. The closest factor we've got to an evidence is available in fragments from others. He was a consulting producer on Who Is America?, so he clearly shares Sacha Baron Cohen’s fondness for pushing comedy into unsuspecting worlds. In a latest Vulture profile, Derren Brown was cited as a key affect – a determine who additionally blurs the road between fiction and actuality to an uncomfortable diploma. However that’s all we've got to go on. For now, and maybe for ever, The Rehearsal merely exists as a thriller designed to interrupt your thoughts.
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