#SXSW: “I USED TO BE FUNNY” REVIEW

By Mr. Will Wong

Rachel Sennott (also at SXSW ’23 with BOTTOMS) continues her ascent, giving us range in Torontonian Ally Pankiw’s (The Great, Schitt’s Creek) self-penned directorial feature debut, I USED TO BE FUNNY. We meet Comedian Sam (Sennott) who is beginning to carve-out her own space in Comedy, but then suffers a trauma which de-rails her aspirations. All the while, she debates whether or not to reconnect with a missing teen whom she used to nanny, Brooke (Olga Petsa).

Upon initial glance, we’d have thought I USED TO BE FUNNY would lean more towards the quirky Comedy we’ve come to expect of Sennott in prior films like Shiva Baby and Bodies Bodies Bodies. However, other than traces of her inspired past, much of the jokes are presented in flashbacks. The focus is the present where Sam is struggling to get her life back on track and thanks to Pankiw‘s crafty storytelling, we try to figure out the connection why she’s so fixated on protecting the young and carefree Brooke. Though it takes a moment to establish its tone, we get a better understanding of where Sam is coming from the further along we get in the story.

That being said, Sennott undeniably is great and rises to the challenge, diving deep and exploring the numbness Sam feels in her languishment. This really is a glimpse into the aftermath of trauma and the struggle to re-discover one’s passion and purpose again, and sometimes we find that fire again in others.

I USED TO BE FUNNY screens at SXSW ’23 as follows:

I Used To Be Funny at Alamo Lamar E

Mar 13, 2023

2:30pm—4:15pm

I Used To Be Funny at Rollins Theatre at The Long Center

Mar 15, 2023

11:00am—12:45pm

I Used To Be Funny at Alamo Lamar A

Mar 17, 2023

3:30pm—5:15pm

#FIRSTLOOK: NEW TRAILER FOR “MIXTAPE”

This looks so sweet! Check-out the new Trailer for MIXTAPE, coming soon to Netflix. Fun fact: One of its stars Olga Petsa was just in Toronto filming a project with Rachel Sennott of Shiva Baby!

Synopsis:

On the eve of Y2k, orphaned, awkward 12-year-old Beverly Moody (Gemma Brooke Allen) discovers a broken mixtape crafted by her teen parents who died in a car accident when she was a baby. Raised by her grandmother Gail (Julie Bowen), a former teen mom herself who finds it painful to speak about her late daughter, Beverly sees this mixtape as a chance to finally learn more about her parents. So she sets out on a journey to find all the songs on the tape. Along the way, she makes friends with her quirky neighbor, Ellen (Audrey Hsieh); intimidatingly tough, Nicky (Olga Petsa); and Anti (Nick Thune), an anti-everything record store owner who’s the key to finding these tracks, and a renewed bond between Gail and Beverly.

MIXTAPE arrives December 3, 2021 on Netflix.

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)