Even though the world is still recovering from her earth-shaking delivery of “your parents are upper middle class” in Bodies Bodies Bodies, Rachel Sennott is back with yet another sardonic but personally miserable protagonist in I Used To Be Funny, the feature-length debut from director Ally Pankiw.
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While Sennott has infused all of her characters with her unique brand of unhinged humor, this one might hit closest to home. Like the actor, Sennott’s character, Sam, was once a stand-up comic just trying to make it in the scene. Sam, however, doesn’t have a lot to laugh about in her personal life. As she struggles with PTSD stemming from a sexual assault, Sam must also weigh whether or not to join the search for a missing teenager (Olga Petsa) she used to nanny. The film alternates between past and present, as Sam tries to get back onstage and reconcile with her trauma.
While the film clearly won’t be a knee-slapper, the trailer isn’t lacking for fun, quippy bits. “I was an au pair for two years. I’m also a comedian. So I spend most of my time with overgrown children,” Sam deadpans at one point. “Brooke is the one person who doesn’t pity me. She hates me... which is refreshing,” she says about her missing nanny charge later on.
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“I wanted to explore what the ups and downs of recovery from trauma actually look like,” Pankiw said of the film in a director’s statement (via Entertainment Weekly). “It’s less often a tale of revenge or vengeance or pure devastation, but rather a slow, lifelong repairing of the relationships that shape us and a reclaiming of our own comedic voices and joy. This film is ultimately about how far and deep the fractures of trauma can reach after even one act of violence.”
While Pankiw hasn’t directed a feature-length film before, she’s been a part of the scene for a while now. She directed season one of Mae Martin’s Netflix comedy, Feel Good, as well as episodes of Shrill, The Great, and Black Mirror
I Used To Be Funny premieres in New York theaters June 7, LA theaters June 14, and will be available on digital June 18.