There is a reason why there are comedians in this world and critics who write about them. Don't become offended on behalf of others - it robs you of the joy of the comedy. The South African psychic is not "brown face" - there are white people in South Africa. You are only showing how ignorant you are. Much of this show is extreme, irreverent but not intentionally offensive - it's literally pure comedy. There are so many one liners and apt takes on modern culture - the real estate heirs / lads, the 12 year old meme obsessed fat kid who is literally every single kid these days that are obsessed with Fortnite. His chameleon like ability to slip into these personas is a thing of beauty. It's just plain funny. Don't overthink it!
122 Reviews
Didn't get it at first...
KrionZed24 April 2019
As the title suggests, after the first episode of this show I didn't get it. It wasn't funny, it actually seemed pointless, and then I started taking notice of the nuances and began appreciating the characters as characters, at which point I finally understood.
It kind of reminds me of the office, not just the whole mocumentary thing, but the little things that make you love the characters. And like the office, it's not laugh out loud funny the whole time, you just enjoy their situations and interactions (however, there are some moments where I burst out laughing, some of the lines are hilarious, which is why you must pay attention to every line in case you miss it).
It might be a little crass for some people, but I don't think it's overdone (Veep level crass). I'm glad I didn't abandon it one episode one. It took a couple of episodes to hook me and now I've almost finished it.
It's an odd and quirky little show, but I love it.
It kind of reminds me of the office, not just the whole mocumentary thing, but the little things that make you love the characters. And like the office, it's not laugh out loud funny the whole time, you just enjoy their situations and interactions (however, there are some moments where I burst out laughing, some of the lines are hilarious, which is why you must pay attention to every line in case you miss it).
It might be a little crass for some people, but I don't think it's overdone (Veep level crass). I'm glad I didn't abandon it one episode one. It took a couple of episodes to hook me and now I've almost finished it.
It's an odd and quirky little show, but I love it.
For Chris Lilley diehards
brigitteisveryspecial25 April 2019
Don't go in expecting a Summer Heights High experience. In fact, you'd do best to forget about a storyline and instead focus on the incredible character work. It would be easy to quit this show early on, but if you like it enough to stick with it, you'll be rewarded. It actually has an incredibly sweet message, and left me feeling great!
A return to classic Lilley
alexfire-9811920 April 2019
It's been 5 years since Chris Lilley has directed. And that time has led him to rediscover what made "We Can Be Heroes" and "Summer Heights High" the epitome of Aussie satire. "Lunatics", while not perfect, is a welcome step back towards his roots and towards a much more promising future.
The show allows for actual character development and comes at comedy from multiple angles of comedic satire unlike his past few shows that relied almost entirely in debased humour, to some extent removed from reality. Lunatics, while being equally as edgy and political incorrect as ever, is thankfully able to maintain this sense of realism that allows it to flower into something funny and touching.
The show is disjointed to be honest, lacking any form of structure, and often resulting to the common story tropes lilley has implemented over his series. That said, its forgivable because each individual character was wonderfully written by Lilley who has finally caught up to satire in 2019.
Good on ya mate.
The show allows for actual character development and comes at comedy from multiple angles of comedic satire unlike his past few shows that relied almost entirely in debased humour, to some extent removed from reality. Lunatics, while being equally as edgy and political incorrect as ever, is thankfully able to maintain this sense of realism that allows it to flower into something funny and touching.
The show is disjointed to be honest, lacking any form of structure, and often resulting to the common story tropes lilley has implemented over his series. That said, its forgivable because each individual character was wonderfully written by Lilley who has finally caught up to satire in 2019.
Good on ya mate.
Be your own kind of beautiful
amanda_lea_corcoran22 April 2019
As always Chris Lilley's new series contains profoundly interesting characters, at first some of them are particularly unlikeable, but that is part of the charm. By the end of Lunatics I found myself enjoying each & every character.
Chris' humour is not everyone's cup of tea, he can be quite confronting, crude, difficult to watch, uncomfortable & offensive. I myself have been a fan since We can be heroes was first broadcast way back in 2005.
I always enjoy how towards the end of a series he ties everything in, the intention flows through and it is often very beautiful and thoughtful. Think of Pat in We can be heroes and you will understand what I mean.
Chris Lilley is a comedic genius. Loved Lunatics.
Chris' humour is not everyone's cup of tea, he can be quite confronting, crude, difficult to watch, uncomfortable & offensive. I myself have been a fan since We can be heroes was first broadcast way back in 2005.
I always enjoy how towards the end of a series he ties everything in, the intention flows through and it is often very beautiful and thoughtful. Think of Pat in We can be heroes and you will understand what I mean.
Chris Lilley is a comedic genius. Loved Lunatics.
It was ok
amandabunny2219 April 2019
Not very funny
kirkbyscott19 April 2019
I have enjoyed his previous work, especially summer heights high but this just didn't get a giggle from me. I just found it annoying. Wasn't offended etc as some people have mentioned but it was just repeated swearing and bullying if characters fit cheap laughs which didn't come.
LOVED IT
karislouise-5178023 April 2019
My heart almost burst when I realised Chris L was back. I have always adored his work and Lunatics is no different.
Carefully crafted and beautifully acted characters. Amazing dialogue. Some characters take a bit of warming up to but by the end I loved every single one. Quentin was absolutely bang on - I have met a fair few Quentins in my time. Jana is also a master stroke.
At the time of writing, the rating is 6.4. I think this will definitely go up over time.
I look forward to another series with the same characters or new ones. Well done Chris L!
Carefully crafted and beautifully acted characters. Amazing dialogue. Some characters take a bit of warming up to but by the end I loved every single one. Quentin was absolutely bang on - I have met a fair few Quentins in my time. Jana is also a master stroke.
At the time of writing, the rating is 6.4. I think this will definitely go up over time.
I look forward to another series with the same characters or new ones. Well done Chris L!
Pet Psychic to the Stars!
jmcauley-120 April 2019
The best part of this show is Jana, Pet Psychic to the Stars! Chris Lilley is at his best when playing obnoxious, self-absorbed female characters like Jamie, Private School Girl. ( I also loved him as the drama teacher in that show... 'Ecstasy!' lol). The college girl and ex porn star could have been really funny, but I didn't quite get them. I'm glad this show is on Netflix though, with hopefully more to come. 'Lunatics' felt a little dated. He should be making fun of millenials, influencers, social media, and politics!
It pains me to say this, but it's just bad.
Jeremy_Urquhart29 April 2019
We Can Be Heroes and Summer Heights High are brilliant. Chris Lilley's work since then has been less consistent, but until Lunatics I'd say each had their moments. Lunatics, unfortunately, once the novelty of the shallow, one-joke characters wears off becomes tiresome and just lacking in comedy or genuine emotion.
With Lilley's aforementioned two strongest shows, each presented a diverse, funny, and often tragic set of characters that despite never interacting were tied together in some way (each character was a nominee for Australian of the year in the former, and each character belonged to the same school in the latter).
The characters here are for the most part very weak. Some are admittedly funny for an episode or two (namely Jana and Joyce), but ultimately each only has a single joke to them, really. Jana thinks she can talk to and therapise pets. Joyce is really delusional. Becky is really tall. Gavin is really crude and disgusting. Keith is really attracted to his cash register. And Quentin has a really big rear end.
There just isn't enough humour or relatable, human emotion here to justify spending 10 over-long, 35 minute episodes with this group of characters. Either some of the least funny characters (looking at you, Keith and Quentin) should have been cut out completely, or the episodes reduced to something like 25 minutes each. The episodes are just far too long. I feel like Chris Lilley had too much creative control, and wasn't working with anyone who could maybe rein him a little, and suggest cutting things that weren't working as well.
The humour is crude, yes, but I wouldn't have a problem with that if it served a purpose (or was actually funny). Low brow humour can be done well. With his better shows, Lilley was offensive, yes, but it served a point and did well to satirise aspects of Australian culture and society. This series doesn't really seem to have anything that it's really poking fun at, or satirising. It's just a look at a whole bunch of unrealistically bizarre and annoying characters who go around doing things with very little in the way of compelling narratives or character arcs.
The lack of connection between the characters also hurts the show, and probably contributes to making it feel so overlong and tedious to get through. They're all just "weird." They're all "lunatics." Again, this isn't enough to justify spending so long documenting these character's lives.
Additionally, there is a lack of anything here feeling real or relatable. We Can Be Heroes was so authentic that I remember one of my aunts and uncles initially thinking it was a genuine (albeit very strange) documentary when they first stumbled across it on TV. And though Summer Heights High is ridiculous and over-the-top, the setting felt incredibly real, as did so many of the supporting characters and locations they all inhabited. As someone who went to high-school in Australia, watching it does often give me flashbacks to how it felt; it's very authentic. There's no feeling like that watching Lunatics. Becky, for example, is supposed to be at university, but you don't really feel like she is. Most of her scenes take place in her dormitory and it's very limited and dull after a while. There's no genuine or real depiction of how it feels to be an isolated university student here.
So overall, the show is incredibly disappointing, and once the somewhat amusing single jokes assigned to (some of) the characters wear off by about episode 2 or 3, there becomes very little reason to continue. I genuinely wish I hadn't stuck with it. Getting through most of this show was tedious and frustrating and largely devoid of humour. Chris Lilley has done so much better and I think if he's going to continue mindlessly spitting out mockumentaries of this quality he should move on and find something else to do.
With Lilley's aforementioned two strongest shows, each presented a diverse, funny, and often tragic set of characters that despite never interacting were tied together in some way (each character was a nominee for Australian of the year in the former, and each character belonged to the same school in the latter).
The characters here are for the most part very weak. Some are admittedly funny for an episode or two (namely Jana and Joyce), but ultimately each only has a single joke to them, really. Jana thinks she can talk to and therapise pets. Joyce is really delusional. Becky is really tall. Gavin is really crude and disgusting. Keith is really attracted to his cash register. And Quentin has a really big rear end.
There just isn't enough humour or relatable, human emotion here to justify spending 10 over-long, 35 minute episodes with this group of characters. Either some of the least funny characters (looking at you, Keith and Quentin) should have been cut out completely, or the episodes reduced to something like 25 minutes each. The episodes are just far too long. I feel like Chris Lilley had too much creative control, and wasn't working with anyone who could maybe rein him a little, and suggest cutting things that weren't working as well.
The humour is crude, yes, but I wouldn't have a problem with that if it served a purpose (or was actually funny). Low brow humour can be done well. With his better shows, Lilley was offensive, yes, but it served a point and did well to satirise aspects of Australian culture and society. This series doesn't really seem to have anything that it's really poking fun at, or satirising. It's just a look at a whole bunch of unrealistically bizarre and annoying characters who go around doing things with very little in the way of compelling narratives or character arcs.
The lack of connection between the characters also hurts the show, and probably contributes to making it feel so overlong and tedious to get through. They're all just "weird." They're all "lunatics." Again, this isn't enough to justify spending so long documenting these character's lives.
Additionally, there is a lack of anything here feeling real or relatable. We Can Be Heroes was so authentic that I remember one of my aunts and uncles initially thinking it was a genuine (albeit very strange) documentary when they first stumbled across it on TV. And though Summer Heights High is ridiculous and over-the-top, the setting felt incredibly real, as did so many of the supporting characters and locations they all inhabited. As someone who went to high-school in Australia, watching it does often give me flashbacks to how it felt; it's very authentic. There's no feeling like that watching Lunatics. Becky, for example, is supposed to be at university, but you don't really feel like she is. Most of her scenes take place in her dormitory and it's very limited and dull after a while. There's no genuine or real depiction of how it feels to be an isolated university student here.
So overall, the show is incredibly disappointing, and once the somewhat amusing single jokes assigned to (some of) the characters wear off by about episode 2 or 3, there becomes very little reason to continue. I genuinely wish I hadn't stuck with it. Getting through most of this show was tedious and frustrating and largely devoid of humour. Chris Lilley has done so much better and I think if he's going to continue mindlessly spitting out mockumentaries of this quality he should move on and find something else to do.
A rewarding series
thomstonecraft25 April 2019
At first you think.. hm.. not amazing. Stick with it. Chris Lilley just sets the foundation for his characters! It is honestly a very funny show, so smart and after finishing it find my friends and I often quote some of the characters best one liners. It's bloody funny and will age well.
Nowhere near his best work
joeyhrvat20 April 2019
Disappointed
cgf37820 April 2019
Not the best, but entertaining
moviesfan225 April 2019
As usual, the acting is brilliant. Chris Lily is a truly unique talent who somehow makes us care about these frail, idiotic, unusual specimens of humanity. He really has a gift and of course, this show does not match up to summer Heights high, we can be heroes, Jonah from Tonga and Jamie private school girl, however I still found the show very entertaining, laughed a lot and felt deeply connected to some of the characters. I thought Gavin was a complete waste of time, I laughed at one thing he did and the other times I was just completely bored watching him. The others worked great though, I do think the editing needed to be snappier as the show was just too long.
I think even if the editing was perfect, there was no Gavin, And no boring stretches, it still wouldn't have been what the other shows have been. Then again, it's kind of hard to beat perfect, and in my opinion, Mr G is perfection.
I personally think he should start going into more serious work as he really nails the heartfelt moments. I would love to see a dramedy from him
I personally think he should start going into more serious work as he really nails the heartfelt moments. I would love to see a dramedy from him
Typical Chris Lilley Show
yesplease7226 April 2019
Ok
paulkitchen-6923319 April 2019
Weak.
markcoombs8819 April 2019
Unfortunately I don't think this is any where near Chris's best work. (I do love his work) this just doesn't cut the mustard. For me Jonah, Mr g, and Jaime are by far the best and in that order. Please bring back these characters mr Lilly!!!
Funny and heartwarming
electric-shadows26 April 2019
I think some of the criticism this show has been getting is a bit unfair. People can be very quick to jump on the bandwagon as soon as something is labelled offensive, without necessarily taking the time to watch or understand it.
In my humble opinion, Chris Lilley has created another six hilarious characters here. Even though they're ridiculous extremes of the stereotypes they mock, they still come across as genuine and likeable (it might take a few episodes). So genuine that I kept forgetting they were all played by the same person! Lilley is such a chameleon! Yeah sure, the humour is crass, but you'll discover by the end that Lunatics actually has a lot of heart. It's got a nice message about not being afraid to let your freak flag fly and being proud of who you are.
In my humble opinion, Chris Lilley has created another six hilarious characters here. Even though they're ridiculous extremes of the stereotypes they mock, they still come across as genuine and likeable (it might take a few episodes). So genuine that I kept forgetting they were all played by the same person! Lilley is such a chameleon! Yeah sure, the humour is crass, but you'll discover by the end that Lunatics actually has a lot of heart. It's got a nice message about not being afraid to let your freak flag fly and being proud of who you are.
Too many characters
FrankHonest23 April 2019
Chris Lilley is always great. This is not a criticism of the writing or acting. There's simply too many story lines. Summer heights high and angry boys worked brilliantly with less characters yet more depth. I feel like Netflix told Lilley to double the character list and the running time. That doesn't work as well for me. Depth over width I prefer in Lilley's work.
A low-point for Chris
AlienRefugee23 April 2019
I really wanted to like this. I can't fault any of Lilleys shows but I found this one to be a little silly and not in a good way. The characters just don't have that charm that previous shows have had. The ones where the character isn't necessarily likeable, but you still feel for them. It's a shame.
Classic Chris Lilley, great new characters
emma3507522 April 2019
A comedic gift to humanity. Everyone needs love and a creative outlet
s0hc4ht0428 May 2019
Top comedy of all time.
Defines this generation.
Been a fan of Chris Lilley's since Summer Heights High.
The satirical comedy is similar to Trey Parker's (would be amazing to see Lilley and Parker collab on a project). Some people get it, some people don't.
Really hope there's a season 2, but the one season so far is a gift to humanity in itself.
Thank you Chris Lilley for your genius work.
With all the jobs being replaced and the world shifting into robotics and AI, us humans need a way to survive. Love and creativity is the answer.
Defines this generation.
Been a fan of Chris Lilley's since Summer Heights High.
The satirical comedy is similar to Trey Parker's (would be amazing to see Lilley and Parker collab on a project). Some people get it, some people don't.
Really hope there's a season 2, but the one season so far is a gift to humanity in itself.
Thank you Chris Lilley for your genius work.
With all the jobs being replaced and the world shifting into robotics and AI, us humans need a way to survive. Love and creativity is the answer.
Very funny but let down by the supporting cast
chopperlilly27 April 2019
Chris Lilley is hilarious as usual and the storylines were really interesting. I did not however like the Joyce character and fast forwarded those parts. My favourite story was Becky the giant but this was a little ruined by the atrocious acting of her twin sister. It is hard to imagine that this actress beat hundreds of others in a casting call. Perhaps she is related to the director? Jana's assistant Kylie was also a terrible actress and clearly only chosen for her looks. There were a few other cast members who left a lot to be desired too. Lilleys own acting is suburb and the accents were spot on. A thoroughly enjoyable comedy series.
Simply not funny
efd-1046719 April 2019
The characters roll from sad to ridiculous to boring over and over.
To be honest I couldn't sit through more than 2 episodes, outlandish looks or statements abound to try and get a laugh but it's really trying too hard.
To be honest I couldn't sit through more than 2 episodes, outlandish looks or statements abound to try and get a laugh but it's really trying too hard.
Chris Lilley smashes it once again
fletcherhutchison16 December 2019
If you are not a fan I wouldn't bother wasting your time.
But if you are, you are going to love it. Once again grabs similarities from his other shows as far back as We Can Be Heroes. While it might not be as clean and well polished as some of his earlier shows he still pushing the boundaries of comedy and still retains the hilarity of Chris Lilley that his fans love.
Highly Rate!!
But if you are, you are going to love it. Once again grabs similarities from his other shows as far back as We Can Be Heroes. While it might not be as clean and well polished as some of his earlier shows he still pushing the boundaries of comedy and still retains the hilarity of Chris Lilley that his fans love.
Highly Rate!!
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