When the poster and trailer originally came out for The Bubble (originally advertised as Cliff Beasts 6: The Battle for Everest) with a release date of April 1st, I was certain it was a set up for an April Fools joke by Netflix. However now having seen the film oddly directed and written by Judd Apatow (Trainwreck, This is 40) I truly wish it was, because The Bubble is a colossal disaster. 

 

Marketed as a dark comedy taking place during the peak of the pandemic when film/television productions were halted beyond a few projects going the extra lengths to get their project made through the COVID guidelines. A drama lightly scattered with comedy as Apatow has recently been known for: King of Staten Island and This is 40 being the first to come to mind, would have been absolutely perfect for the topic at hand. What Apatow has done here is not only remarkably unfunny in every regard – it’s utter nonsense. 

 

With a stacked cast featuring the likes of Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), Karen Gillian (Guardians of the Galaxy), Leslie Mann (Knocked Up), David Duchovny (The X-Files), Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele) and Fred Armisen (Portlandia) you have literally so much to work with – it’s unbelievable that none of it comes together in a cohesive plot. The first twenty minutes displaying Gillan’s Carol Cobb going through the strenuous two week quarantine where she fills her time with eating, dancing, exercising, crying and masturbating felt the most real the film will get for the entirety of the picture. 

 

What makes matters so much worse for this misguided comedy is the choppy “place joke here” mentality Apatow has throughout the entire runtime. The jokes are placed randomly throughout with almost no follow up – everything here feels like a first draft that Apatow just ran with and never looked back after Netflix funded it. 

 

A great concept with a stellar cast, The Bubble is a wasted effort from all involved – when a five second meaningless cameo from a clueless James McAvoy yelling “Why are you running!” to an escaped Karen Gillan is the highlight of your movie… something is seriously wrong. It’s watchable… barely even that and you may smirk here and there throughout your experience but for a 2 hour and 6 minute film trying to express the dreadful working conditions on set during 2020 and 2021 – The Bubble doesn’t give a shit.