Chelsea Peretti’s ‘First Time Female Director’ Is Manic Comedy Genius

I thought I might know what to expect going into comedian Chelsea Peretti’s debut feature, aptly titled First Time Female Director, which premiered Monday at the Tribeca Film Festival. After all, I had heard the parodic play she performed in 2017—a rural, Southern drama called Rain’s Comin’ In, a riff on Tennessee Williams’ melodramatic style—which is reworked for the film.

It seemed most of the festival audience thought they had a handle on what they’d be seeing too, judging from the overheard conversations that buzzed before the film began. Some were there as fans of Peretti’s work on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, others were fans of her standup, and several were there just to see what kind of riot a star-studded cast of comedians might be able to dredge up together.

All of us, including myself, were completely unprepared for a comedy as unapologetically manic—and utterly original—as First Time Female Director.

The film is full-fledged gonzo madness, barely stopping long enough for the audience to catch their breaths before the comedic pinball machine that is Peretti’s script revs back up again. It’s a movie so packed with quips, recurring bits, and softly spoken one-liners that it feels more like a spring-loaded snake, trapped inside a can, waiting for someone to open it and unleash its bevy of gags. But that feverish energy is entirely the point. First Time Female Director recreates the frenzied state of being an artist. There are no pensive moments of self-reflection or prudent lessons for the audience to take away. Peretti’s sharp script and keen directing slash away at industry narcissism, until all that’s left is whiplash and a laughter-sore stomach.

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Along with writing and directing the film, Peretti stars in First Time Female Director as Sam, a playwright at the Regis, a small community theater in Glendale, California. One day, she’s asked to mount one of her own plays (the aforementioned Rain’s Comin’ In) by the Regis’ manager, Sheldon (Andy Richter), after the company’s longtime director is ousted for inappropriate conduct. Double her usual pay rate is all it takes for Sam to agree, but the cast of foot-dragging, egotistical actors that regularly star in the Regis’ plays aren’t at all happy that Sam is getting the opportunity to direct.

There’s influencer Davina (Meg Stalter); the uptight, bossy gay Rudie (Benito Skinner); the Regis’ seasoned lead actress, Marjorie (Megan Mullally); an easygoing but unsure colleague, Simon (Jak Knight); the straitlaced method thespian Clara (Kate Berlant); and the overconfident hunk, Gordon (Blake Anderson). Everyone has their own set of unique quirks that clash almost as soon as Sam walks into the room. They can practically smell Sam’s overzealousness emanating from her Pharrell-sized fedoras.

Each member of this stuffed-to-the-gills cast gets their moment in the sun, but not without competing for it. Berlant, Mullally, Stalter, and Skinner are all in constant contention, stealing scenes from one another the second someone loosens their grip. Stalter’s self-involved Instagram maven is particularly caustic, in her ad-sponsored headbands and underwear that she plans to auction off to followers. Whether they’re improvised or not, Stalter’s lines are chucked out with glorious aplomb. When Davina tries to get out of a cast rehearsal by pleading, “I have to go get some Jamocha shakes for me and my mom,” you can almost feel her desire to be recognized by the poor person taking her order at the drive-thru window of a Glendale Arby’s.

Peretti’s script is generous to each performer, but no one is quite so delightfully ostentatious as Peretti herself, who has some impressive physical comedy chops. Sam is one of the few characters in First Time Female Director who is rewarded any poignancy (if you can call anything here truly poignant), and Peretti sells Sam’s hunger to fit into some archaic mold of a playwright without letting the humor fall by the wayside. She also calls on some friends for exhilarating cameos, including a certain Nope director she’s married to, who appears as a local expert in the arts, and delivers a killer read on Brad Pitt’s pretentious speaking style.

With zaniness zipping through the frame at all times, it’s easier to see when the First Time Female Director relies a bit too heavily on its cameos and recurring bits. Some of those repeated, stylistic choices—like a slow-mo edit that’s outrageously funny the first couple of times it’s implemented, and then puzzling thereafter—start to wear at points. They feel almost too obvious, like little jokes for the cheap seats, out of place in a film that’s deceivingly clever for how in-your-face its comedy is.

But their repetition also feels calculated, and reminiscent of other unapologetically eccentric films like Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar, Smiley Face, or Napoleon Dynamite. And like those comedies, there will be those who just don’t get it. But it’s tough to negate the film’s boldness, which is undeniable from the film’s opening act.

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A first-time female director herself, Peretti has all the assuredness of someone who’s been aching to do this for a long time. The editing is smooth and rewarding to watch, and the film’s kinetic camerawork helps keep the viewer primed for more, even when the narrative takes an occasional dip. First Time Female Director somehow looks and feels exactly like a 2000s ABC network comedy, a mockumentary, and an extended MTV Movie Awards opening sketch all rolled into one. Even if the humor won’t land for some audiences, it’s a breeze to watch.

All of that character banter and endless razzing flies at such a breakneck speed that it’s almost impossible to keep up. At times, the film feels like it’s barely grounded in reality because of its rollercoaster pacing. But I’d wager that’s Peretti’s point. First Time Female Director pokes at the intrinsic absurdity of the arts, and how truly mad everyone who pursues them might be. It’s an unforgiving profession, boisterous and cutthroat. But you know what they say: If you can make it in Glendale, you can make it anywhere.

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