Binge-r #173: Everything's Gonna Be Okay + Little America
Petal Power: Josh Thomas (Nicholas) and Kayla Cromer (Matilda) in Everything’s Gonna Be Okay
EVERYTHING’S GONNA BE OKAY S1
Streaming Service: Stan
Availability: New episode weekly starting today
The new series from Josh Thomas, relocated to America after the breakthrough success of Please Like Me, is a study in structure versus form. When outlined, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay appears to have a familiar, Hollywood pitch – an unpredictable and under-prepared young man suddenly has to become guardian for his two teenage half-sisters – that could have been put to air in multiple previous decades; John Stamos might have once headlined this concept. But Thomas, as creator and star, reworks any expectations to idiosyncratic and altogether modern ends. His makeshift father figure, Australian entomologist Nicholas, is gay, neurotic, and prone to saying the right thing at the wrong time, or vice-versa.
“I look like staff,” laments Nicholas, on wearing a black suit to the funeral of his father (Christopher May), which comes halfway through the first episode. Having graduated to guesthouse status with his dad, who deserted Nicholas and his Australian mother to start a new (subsequently widowed) life in Los Angeles, Nicholas is suddenly asked to care for 17-year-old Matilda (Kayla Cromer), who is on the autism spectrum but high-functioning, and 14-year-old Genevieve (Maeve Press). He’s willing, but not always able, even though his father’s wealth takes away any financial stress (apparently ornamental vineyards are a thing). There’s a glossy edge to this orphaned party of three, and the early episodes walk a fine line between subverting sitcom satisfaction and celebrating it.
But the circuit-breakers are bold, beginning with Thomas himself. “I haven’t ejaculated since my dad died,” Nicholas confesses to his new boyfriend, Alex (Adam Faison), in the second episode, putting a hitch in their first hook-up, and the storytelling takes a fresh look at high school crises and shared moments with embarrassing twists and snippy self-deprecation. An episode might end where you’d roughly expect, but it takes an unexpected route there. Crucial to this is the outstanding performances of Press and Cromer, who like her character has autism – Thomas gives their roles prominence and the young actors ground the show in welcome ways. Everything’s Gonna Be Okay is witty and thought through, even if some of the generational concerns that informed Please Like Me have dissipated. The series is gonna be more than okay.
Happy Trails: Conphidance (Iwegbuna Ikeji) in Little America
LITTLE AMERICA S1 (Apple TV+, all eight episodes now streaming): Apple’s rollout of original streaming shows has been solid, with recommendations for The Morning Wars, Dickinson, and For All Mankind, but this terrific anthology series about the experiences of immigrants in modern day America is the best offering yet. Shepherded by a team that includes Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon (The Big Sick), as well as Alan Yang (Master of None), the episodes are adapted from real life stories of individuals trying to make sense of their own lives in a strange and sometimes incomprehensible country. American xenophobia is always present, but the focus is mostly more on cultural uncertainty and long-held risk than specific presidential actions. Many of the writers and directors are unknowns, and they sketch caring, incisive portraits – a Nigerian student (Conphidance) brings his cowboy dreams to Oklahoma, while the teenage daughter (Jearnest Corchado) of an undocumented Mexican housekeeper finds acceptance in a squash league. The mix encompasses bolded names (Melanie Laurent and Zachary Quinto) in a near silent comedy and a strikingly powerful episode about a gay Syrian man (Haaz Sleiman) searching for sanctuary, and that breadth delivers Little America both specificity and a purpose. Give it a home if you can.
NEWLY ADDED MOVIES
New on Netflix: A grim, guilt-ridden story of culpability and obsession, Prisoners (2013, 143 minutes) brought director Denis Villeneuve to Hollywood, with Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal headlining a thriller about missing children; Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008, 120 minutes) let Guillermo del Toro indulge his love for fantasy world-building, as Ron Perlman’s demon gone good has further adventures in otherworldly realms.
New on SBS on Demand: One of the best – and certainly underrated – Australian films of the last decade, The Infinite Man (2014, 81 minutes) is a wonderfully inventive no-budget Australian comedy about the cosmic futility of trying to attain perfection as a desperate scientist (Josh McConville) experiments with time travel to try and win his ex (Hannah Marshall) back from a romantic rival (Alex Dimitriades). It’s a screwball delight.
New on Stan: Steeped in Venetian unease and with a contradictory cast – Rupert Everett, Natasha Richardson, Helen Mirren, and Christopher Walken – The Comfort of Strangers (1990, 105 minutes) is a psychosexual thriller that director Paul Schrader made fascinating; On the Road (2012, 140 minutes) is an iconic book to adapt, but Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles captured some of it with Kristen Stewart, Sam Riley, and Garrett Hedlund starring.
>> Want BINGE-R sent to your inbox? Click here for the weekly e-mail.
>> Check the complete BINGE-R archive: 211 series reviewed here, 133 movies reviewed here, and 32 lists compiled here.
