Stream It Or Skip It: ‘I Used to Be Funny’ on Netflix, a Rachel Sennott Dramedy About A Stand-Up Comedian Suffering From PTSD

‘I Used to Be Funny’ Encapsulates Rachel Sennott’s Versatile Appeal

Rachel Sennott is known mainly for her comic work in movies like Bodies Bodies Bodies and the hilarious Bottoms , which she co-wrote. But in I Used to Be Funny , she takes on a more dramatic role – even while playing a comedian. How does she fare balancing a more grounded role with her trademark humor?

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The Gist: Sam (Rachel Sennott) is walking through her life in a daze; even the task of, say, getting dressed after a bath clearly overwhelms her. She seems to be reeling from the disappearance of Brooke (Olga Petsa), the teenager she came to treat as a little sister during an extended gig as her sort-of nanny since Brooke was 12, but that’s not all there is to Sam’s mental state. It eventually becomes clear that she’s suffering from PTSD, for reasons first hinted at, then alluded to, then eventually depicted on-screen. But despite Brooke’s disappearance and Sam’s semi-withheld background information, I Used to Be Funny isn’t a puzzle-box. It’s a portrait of Sam’s headspace, which is particularly damaging to her hoped-for career as a stand-up comedian. The movie cuts back and forth in time, filling in the details of Sam’s comedy career, her relationship with Brooke, and how her PTSD has affected both. Some scenes are funny, some are serious, and often the movie oscillates between the two within seconds, in a way that keeps it unpredictable even after you’ve figured out what Sam’s trauma is.

What Will It Remind You Of?: Judd Apatow’s Funny People took a similarly funny-sad-honest look at the psychology of comedians, though those wounds were more often self-inflicted than in this more direct trauma narrative. Sennott’s starring role in Shiva Baby also mixes comedy and anxiety though, again, in a less harrowing fashion. I Used to Be Funny also resembles intimate recovery dramas like Causeway .

Performance Worth Watching: This is deeply and emphatically Sennott’s show. The supporting players are fine, but it’s her raw-nerve energy that drives the whole movie, and puts a compelling spin on the haunting-and-recovery trauma narrative: She conveys the degree to which Sam depends on her comic talent to cope with setbacks, and how (understandably) losing that ability in the aftermath of the assault leaves her perpetually off-balance.

Memorable Dialogue: “Good job for washing your body!” Sam’s roommate says early on, by way of encouragement.

Our Take: One truism about both aspiring and professional comedians is that they tend to joke their way through uncomfortable situations. What writer-director Ally Pankiw seems interested in exploring with I Used to Be Funny is the discomfiting spaces where patching over deep pain with a funny one-liner no longer works – and what keeps the movie interesting through a relatively bare-bones story is that Pankiw doesn’t portray comedy exclusively as either an unhealthy coping mechanism or a perfect outlet. The movie lives in that space where you’re not sure whether to laugh or cry… and then decide instead on the third option of staying in bed all day.

Rachel Sennott’s background as a comic actor, including a stint as a stand-up, might make her seem like an obvious choice to play Sam, the comedian adrift in her guilt, trauma, and memories. But Sam’s vibes are distinct from other recent Sennott roles; even her more hapless or clueless characters tend to have a bravado about them, roaring up to block their insecurities. That may happen with Sam, but it’s on a subtler, more micro level that’s more serious than anything Sennott has done as a lead. Her humor can be gentler and more banter-y than the absurdism or aggression of her other roles, but she’s also less of an unstoppable force with a more fragile, less cartoonish resilience. The movie captures the feeling of retreat, of burrowing into yourself, that often follows trauma or grave injustice.

The smallness of I Used to Be Funny isn’t always an advantage. There are some student-film-y touches in both the writing and the directing, and Sennott’s performance generally feels better-supported in the scenes where she has to find her footing between wry self-commentary and barely holding it together, rather than the moments where her emotions break the surface. As such, the later scenes where Sam actually steels herself to track down Brooke have such tension and unpredictability that you might find yourself wishing that had become the thrust of the movie much earlier – a portrait of a comedian on pause, channeling her energy into an amateur detective story. But I Used to Be Funny is too grounded to head too far into genre territory, and that’s not a bad thing. Pankiw has a better, more intuitive command of the oft-tricky dramedy form than plenty of more experienced filmmakers.

Our Call: If you can handle the intensity of the subject matter, STREAM IT for Sennott’s remarkable performance.

Jesse Hassenger ( @rockmarooned ) is a writer living in Brooklyn. He’s a regular contributor to The A.V. Club, Polygon, and The Week, among others. He podcasts at www.sportsalcohol.com , too.

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