The Festival is a new comedy from the creator of The Inbetweeners, Iain Morris. It follows Nick (Joe Thomas), a student whose girlfriend dumps him and is persuaded by his friend, Shane, to go to a festival in order to cheer himself up. To establish, I am a huge fan of The Inbetweeners. I think it is a genuinely brilliant show, that never fails to make me laugh, so I went into this film really hoping that I would enjoy it and get a good few laughs.
Well, despite my intentions and Robbie Collin’s assertion that it ‘easily passed the six laugh test’, it isn’t funny. Vast parts of the film are taken up by talking and wandering around a music festival, which might be ok if you were there, but is boring to watch on someone else do on screen. The worst crime this film commits is that it just isn’t funny enough. I reckon I got about two or three laughs, the funniest character being Jemaine Clement’s Robin (Shane’s Step-Father).
As well as being not funny, many of the characters are just dislikable. Pretty much everyone except Shane and Amy (an Australian girl they meet at the festival) is annoying in some way. Even Nick, the central character whose side your’e meant to be on is just irritating throughout much of the film. And at 34, Joe Thomas is really too old to be playing the ‘Simon’ role, he’s done before.
So, much as I wanted to say different, The Festival was a big disappointment for me. Insufficient laughter is grounds for divorce and The Festival certainly had insufficient laughter. Certainly not worth your time, rewatch The Inbetweeners instead. 1 Star.
Movie Night 