Can you imagine a series with one story but 8 (!) different genres? Christopher Miller's "The Afterparty" is exactly that project!

One of the first pleasant surprises of the year from Apple TV+ is the series "The Afterparty" by Christopher Miller ("21 Jump Street", "The LEGO Movie"), who not only came up with this crazy show but also personally directed most of the episodes of the debut season. Why crazy? Because in 8 episodes, 8 genres and forms are used: from horror to animation, from arthouse to musical. And there would be nothing surprising about it if it were an anthology, but no — the plot is unified, revolving around a class reunion where a murder occurs.

Whodunnit 2.0

This reunion differs from most such events because it involves a global pop star, Xavier (Dave Franco). After the main party ends, the singer invites the closest classmates to his mansion for an afterparty. But the evening ends not with friendly reminiscences of school years, but with the death of one of those present…

Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) arrives at the crime scene and, contrary to orders from above, begins her own investigation. All participants of the afterparty fall under suspicion, so she decides to listen to each of them to get a complete picture of what happened and identify the killer.

Such a setup might lead one to expect a whodunnit detective story in the spirit of classic Agatha Christie. And, in fact, that is the case. But at the same time, Christopher Miller largely ironized the canons, turning the unreliability of the narrators up to the maximum.

Each version of the story represents a separate genre: for one participant, it's a romantic comedy about meeting a first love; for another, a horror with stalking; for a third, a high school musical. Depending on this, the tone and nature of the narrative change, and sometimes the form — one episode is even made animated.

When Clichés Are Beneficial

The abundance of genres should not confuse you or raise the question "How should I perceive this?" First and foremost, "The Afterparty" is a comedy. From the very first frames, irony is felt in everything that happens. And to reinforce the effect, each new genre is filled with popular clichés: rain during a kiss, pompous phrases in brutal moments, awkward transitions into singing, etc.

At the same time, the clichés are used skillfully and are often complemented by post-irony, evoking if not laughter, then a smile. The same rain here turns on at strictly defined moments. Something similar was done by Christopher Miller together with his eternal partner Phil Lord in the sequel to "21 Jump Street". From there, perhaps, comes the desire to introduce one unexpected but very bright cameo from a master of the genre.

Is the Series "The Afterparty" Worth Watching?

This is an unpretentious but absolutely cinephile show, full of experiments, diverse humor, and quirkiness — an ideal way to disconnect from the outside world and spend a couple of evenings trying to identify the killer and have a great time. Yes, it turns out that such a thing is possible not only when watching "Knives Out".

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