(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Nathan Fielder has never been one to play it safe. Initially acquiring a cult following with his peculiar reality show Nathan For You, he proved his ability to perfectly balance cringe and comedy on screen and in the writers’ room. Between awkward encounters with entrepreneurs and ridiculous business ideas, he became one of the internet’s most well-loved creatives and has even earned the admiration of Christopher Nolan.
More recently, Fielder took on fiction with The Curse, a characteristically peculiar project which saw him join forces with industry powerhouses Emma Stone and Benny Safdie. Inspired by a real-life encounter he had in Los Angeles, it follows Fielder and Stone as a couple at the forefront of a house-flipping reality show while Fielder’s character deals with the titular curse.
The Curse has won Fielder even more rightful acclaim for his ability to hone uncomfortable atmospheres and expertly tackle huge themes, but it’s neither Fielder’s absurd original reality show nor his most recent offering that Nolan declared to be revolutionary. Rather, he opened a Q&A he was moderating with the comedian and Safdie by praising his 2022 series, The Rehearsal.
Airing on HBO, The Rehearsal expanded the world of Nathan For You and Fielder’s role as director and participant. It’s a commentary on the human desire to rehearse and predict, bringing anxiety spirals to life by recreating potential scenarios as accurately as possible to prepare for all possibilities. The first episode makes the show seem as if it might follow the same format as Nathan For You, with a new rehearsal making up each episode, but it quickly devolves into a more consistent throughline.
In the pilot, Fielder helps a quiz lover admit to his friends that he doesn’t quite have the educational background they believe, while the rest of the season is focused on Fielder and his fake relationship with Angela. Rehearsing the huge task of raising a child, Fielder takes on the role of the father, and the pair pretend to raise a child together, speeding up the process by hiring increasingly older actors.
As Nolan rightly asserted, it’s a revolutionary piece of television that considers human anxieties, performance and ethics all at once. Like most of Fielder’s art, it’s an uncomfortable watch at times, at once cringe-inducing and strangely funny, with glimpses of real humanity. The Rehearsal is essential watching for Fielder fans, for Nolan fans, or for anyone interested in the more off-kilter capabilities of the medium. Get ahead before the second season arrives.
Watch the trailer below.