“The Afterparty” portrays a high profile murder occurring at the home of Xavier (Dave Franco) during a party thrown after a 10-year high school reunion. The suspects, an eclectic group, must remain at the murder scene until the police detective has heard all of their “mind movies.” Yes, this is a Rashomon-style of story that will have you laughing aloud as you try to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
Co-writer and director Christopher Miller who gave us the memorable “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse” and two of my guilty pleasure films “21 Jump Street” and it’s successor “22 Jump Street,” brings his comedic skills to this thrillingly funny Apple TV+ series. Of course, he’s got a lot of help with his talented cast who portray over-the-top 30-somethings with their own issues in life as, one by one (or episode by episode), they defend their whereabouts and motives to Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) and we see the events through their eyes.
The fun begins as Aniq (Sam Richardson) tells us what he knows in his signature frenetically nervous style. We’ve also got Ike Barinholtz and Ben Schwartz along with Ilana Glazer and Zoe Chao who appear to be having a blast with their characters as they tweak and change just a bit (or sometimes a lot) depending upon who is showing us their “mind movie.” It’s a wonderfully talented ensemble cast who knows how to do comedy and we are the beneficiaries.
“The Afterparty” is a fast-paced show that easily lures and hooks you as you watch one episode after another. Be sure to catch “The Afterparty” now streaming on Apple TV+.
