“In the early days of the pandemic, the world faced a painful shortage of new film and television content,” we’re told in an opening title card for The Bubble. “This is the story of the making of Cliff Beasts 6 and the brave people who fought heroically to bring distractions to humanity.”

That is a bit of a stretch.

Cliff Beasts’ cast was placed in a quarantine bubble at a hotel in the United Kingdom and was anticipated to spend three months in isolation while filming. Production was delayed several times owing to COVID-19 exposures, crew shortages, and other unforeseen situations.

The cast assumed that the most difficult thing they’d have to cope with would be one another.
(Though, with a continually bickering divorced couple, two drug addicts, a cult leader, a TikTok celebrity, and a blacklisted actress in the cast, they weren’t entirely incorrect.)

In the end it is a hilarious satire drama. It’s well worth a look. The film establishes a number of film industry stereotypes, builds on them with some crazy circumstances, and then subverts expectations by utilizing human treats as the hilarious catalyst for how anyone might lose their sanity amid pandemic isolation.

But it also appears to be making a second point.
Several wealthy studio execs complain about being blocked off from their private beaches in the film.
Actors and actresses whine about being overworked, but they seldom mention the crew people who work the same long hours for a fraction of the salary.

Hollywood wants viewers to assume that everything is OK because they are part of the joke.
They are well aware of their hypocrisy.
So instead of criticizing them, let’s simply enjoy the movie they’ve made to divert our attention.

But, perhaps, the majority of us will not be so readily persuaded. Man Karen Gillan is an acting fiend though 🙂