‘First Time Female Director’ Review – Chelsea Peretti’s Gonzo Farce is Funny But Little Else [Tribeca 2023]

A movie can get away with a lot if it’s funny. The plot could meander, the themes could be muddled, the cinematography could be blasé, but if it gets enough laughs, all of those problems could feel like an afterthought. Fortunately, it’s just enough for Chelsea Peretti’s debut feature, mockingly titled First Time Female Director, to keep its head above water.

By the end of a surprisingly prolonged 97 minutes, it’s unclear if Peretti set out to write an actual movie or simply a compilation of sketches. However, her stacked cast of committed character actors are so incredibly funny that they collectively elevate her barely-functioning narrative into a reasonably entertaining farce.

As the title would have you believe, the film follows a first-time female director, specifically Sam (Peretti), a resident playwright for a Glendale community theater who is given the chance to helm her own work following the cancellation of a male colleague (Tim Heidecker). This means having to guide the theater’s company of amateur, self-absorbed actors, all of whom are quick to see through her desperation to live up to his reputation. 

Along the way, she seeks guidance from just about anywhere she can find it – her concerned theater manager (Andy Richter), a friendly box office attendant with writing aspirations of her own (Xosha Roquemore), and even her therapist (Amy Poehler). In the end, Sam must find a way to soldier through a slew of antics, from technical malfunctions to eccentric investors.

It’s difficult to summarize the plot of First Time Female Director, largely because there really isn’t one. Once the central premise is established, every subsequent scene is merely a setup for a punchline, like a collection of SNL Digital Shorts loosely strung together. There’s no semblance of actual characters or arcs, nor is there a consistent throughline of stakes or momentum in the plot. Despite a fairly obvious structure, to the point it uses interstitials to guide the viewer as to which part we’re up to, there is minimal connective tissue beat to beat.

For a film that so desperately channels the works of Christopher Guest, specifically Waiting For Guffman, it forgets that the secret to those films’ success is that you secretly get very invested in the story and characters. Sure, the characters are obnoxious, but they also inspire empathy. None of Peretti’s caricatures are fleshed out beyond their initial spark, which makes an already loose story feel completely devoid of weight.

It helps, then, that the cast performs those caricatures without skipping a beat. Peretti, who is herself a talented comedian, is fun in the lead role, though she is clearly outshined by her supporting cast. The core ensemble of actors – featuring the likes of Megan Mullally, Kate Berlant, and Blake Anderson – are all equally hilarious and play off of each other with sharp chemistry. Benito Skinner is a particularly brash stand-out as Rudy, a biting drama queen and aspiring actor who often clashes with Sam. Alongside the film’s cast are a plethora of celebrity cameos from a slew of brilliant comedians, though divulging on who’s who would spoil the fun.

Regardless, everyone’s efforts make for an explosively campy skewering of identity politics which, though far too wide-ranging, finds its footing in the third act. From the title alone, Peretti is clearly taking potshots at the cyclical nature of tokenism in the arts; Sam is chosen as a director largely because she is a woman, though she herself co-opts Southern culture and stereotypes to fuel her cringeworthy, self-important family drama. The incisive sendup is spread a bit thin – get ready for jokes about cancel culture and white feminism – but it does come to a rousing and cathartic conclusion that ends things on a high note. 

In the end, one certainly expects more from Peretti in the director’s chair; her visual style is so flat and low-budget that even an acquisition from Roku feels like a win. The irony of Chelsea Peretti directing a middling debut feature about a director directing their own middling debut feature is, sadly, too sweet to ignore. Still, First Time Female Director is a burst of gonzo energy in a moment when comedy on film feels safe more often than not. It’s chock full of laughs, just little else.

First Time Female Director had its World Premiere as part of the Spotlight Narrative section at the 2023 Tribeca Festival. It will be released in 2024, courtesy of Roku.

Director: Chelsea Peretti

Writer: Chelsea Peretti

Rated: NR

Runtime: 97m