The Inbetweeners
I didn’t have any expectations before watching The Inbetweeners, so that might be one of the reasons I find it so funny.
The Inbetweeners is a TV show that follows four British boys as they attempt to climb their high school’s social ladder. I’m not sure how realistically the high school is portrayed – and I’m hoping it’s very unrealistic – but the boys don’t have an easy time.
Will’s father walks out on the family, so Will is forced to leave his private school and enroll in the local public school. On his first day, Will has to wear a large green badge that says his name and points out that he’s new to get his classmates to stop and talk to him. The ones who do stop to talk to him don’t have anything nice to say.
He’s in orientation with a bunch of people who are, decidedly, “freaks.” After Simon is assigned to show Will around to his classes, the two become friends, and Simon introduces Will to Jay and Neil.
However, Simon and his friends aren’t exactly the epitome of cool.
“It was a typical Saturday night [party] … And anyone who is in any way cool was somewhere else.”
They spend the majority of their time figuring out how to buy alcohol and get girls to sleep with them. They have much more success buying alcohol.
Though the televisions in my house are equipped with Netflix, I watched The Inbetweeners on my laptop from the privacy of my bedroom. The boys use some very crude language, to say the least. There isn’t a single scene in the show that doesn’t use colorful vocabulary. Things like that don’t really bother me, but in a few scenes, the boys do talk about girls in very graphic and rather rude terms. They also reference their own anatomy from time to time.
The show did fairly well in England, though audiences generally enjoyed it more than critics.
A Common Sense Media review said, while there is a lot of drinking, swearing, and discussing sexual acts, “it really feels like watching four boys in their natural environment.”
The movie is based on the TV show, except the movie was a much bigger hit in the United States. It’s the same four boys, just on the big screen.
MTV had an American remake of the show, and from what I can tell from the trailer, it’s more or less the same script, just with Americans. This version was canceled after the first season due to low viewership. I suggest watching the British one because it’s the original.
The Inbetweeners is chock full of one-liners, crude humor and relatable, though sometimes exaggerated, issues: getting a driver’s license, obtaining alcohol and interacting with the opposite sex.
Overall, I give The Inbetweeners 4/5 stars. While it’s not something I’d ever watch with my parents, I think it’s something my friends would enjoy.
Watch the trailer for the first season.
All three seasons are available on Netflix.
