Be honest: How many actual human beings know you better than your phone does?
Even your best friend doesn't see the messages you type, then delete; the photos that never make it to Instagram; the over-the-line tweets in your Drafts folder; the things you shouldn't have to Google, but do anyway. Imagine you accidentally left your Screen Record on for even 15 minutes and then watched it back -- what would it reveal about you?
That's the premise of Content, a new Australian comedy web series from ABC TV that (mostly) manages to transcend the string of buzzwords that form its elevator pitch: "the world's first vertical comedy set on a phone". It's part of the still-nascent "screen life" genre, which includes movies like 2018's Searchingand the Unfriendedfilms, which take place entirely on computer screens.
All of Content's seven episodes happen on the smartphones of Lucy and Daisy, two best friends and housemates in the Australian city of Brisbane who are both trying to get their 20s into gear. But while Daisy is finishing a degree, working full-time and getting out into the dating world, Lucy is spending all her time and energy trying to become Instafamous: auditioning for reality TV gigs, chasing likes, and ignoring her real-world responsibilities. But then a Facebook Live of Lucy's genuinely terrifying car accident goes viral and she becomes a meme known as #flipgirl -- and her yearning for clout becomes an obsession that compromises her lifelong friendship with Daisy.
SEE ALSO:Kombucha girl had a wild weekend recreating her famous meme for fansCharlotte Nicdao (soon to be seen in Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day’s unnamed video game dev comedy for Apple) plays Lucy as a sunny, monomaniacal Gen Z narcissist whose self-awareness is built precariously on the twin pillars of fake internet points and Daisy’s more grounded feedback. She's a bit annoying and occasionally too one-note, but the moments when Nicdao lets self-doubt and even sheer terror flicker onto her face between poses show us what she’s burying under all the bravado.
Credit: Mia Forrest/ABC TVIt’s a much more simplistic and less bleak take on female friendship and betrayal than Fleabag’s first season, but the influence of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s breakout creation is visible in both the unravelling of the friendship and in its fixation on the masks we put on for others, the energy that goes into maintaining them, and why.
Nicdao and Gemma Bird Matheson (who both appeared in SyFy’s Childhood’s Endminiseries in 2015) have an easy chemistry that’s explored in creative ways without breaking the conceit. By necessity most of their conversations are FaceTimes and texts from different locations, but episode 3, “Tinder”, cleverly manages to get them in the same room and driving the action in voiceover.
Crucially, it's not designed to appeal to people who won't recognise Lucy's efforts as familiar, if not sympathetic. The attention to detail in shots of social media feeds and comments demand pausing. Contentdoesn't take pains to explain why she pounces on every scrap of viral fame, or what different platforms are (it uses real-life social media interfaces and native smartphone apps in almost every case), any more than it panders to the uninitiated by explaining who the IRL influencers and YouTubers (including Nat Tran, the Fairbairn brothers and Wengie) are when they cameo in montages where Lucy comes closer to her goal. It's a smart choice that's instrumental in making it feel real.
Credit: Mia Forrest / ABC TVWith episodes releasing worldwide on Wednesday and Friday mornings (Australian time) across YouTube, Facebook Watch and IGTV for the rest of September, it feels like a surprisingly coherent cross between a regular TV show and looking over someone’s shoulder at their phone on the bus -- and with episodes sitting between 7 and 15 minutes in length, it’s still easy enough viewing for your actual commute.
And it works as a TV show, as a story about recognisable characters. Swelling indie pop over the tapping sound effects of typing, swiping and liking, with hesitation and eagerness indicated simply and precisely in the timing, can make a scene of reconciliation or rejection that plays out completely in the form of an Instagram post be as affecting as watching an actual human emoting. Yes, your mileage may vary. But Contentmanages to show how we build real lives and relationships through our phone screens, as well as how we can break them.
The first episode of Content is already live, with the last airing on Sept. 27.
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