Charlie XCX’s feature film mockumentary of her famous ‘Brat’ tour, The Moment, lands in UK cinemas on 20 February.
It’s being met with hot anticipation, and shines a lot on the mockumentary style of filmmaking and TV production.
In anticipation of The Moment, Film News Blitz’s Nisha Cullen breaks down her favourite mockumentaries and when they don’t hit the mark.
What is a mockumentary?
A mockumentary is a parody of a documentary. Take real-life scenarios and instances and spoof them to the point of absurdity, yet still believable, and boom, you have a mockumentary.
By no means a modern-day concept, the phrase dates back to the 1960s, but I’ll be focusing on my favourite 21st-century mockumentaries.
‘The Office’
The Office is arguably the most famous mockumentary-style TV show.
Both the original UK version and the US remake follow a paper company through seemingly mundane day-to-day life.
Whichever one you prefer (for me, it’s the US version), The Office is hilarious.
Mundane scenarios, crafty camera angles, awkward pauses – The Office plays out like real life.
The UK version, which began in 2001, had people question whether it was real or not. That’s how authentic it feels.
The number of times I’ve seen The US Office, I’m reminded that it’s a great, easy watch (except for the Scott’s Tots episode, if you know, you know) that contains some real laugh-out-loud moments.
‘Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan’
Could Borat be made today? Probably not. But without a doubt, Sacha Baron Cohen, throughout his career, has toed the line when it comes to what’s allowed in comedy.
The film follows Borat, a Kazakh journalist, on his way through America to learn about the culture and customs, and to attempt to bring back modern ideas to Kazakhstan.
But, while on his trip, he falls in love with Pamela Anderson after watching an episode of Baywatch, and diverts his trip to try to marry her.
The film features clips of Borat interviewing and interacting with Americans who did not know he was playing a character, making some of the confusion and awkwardness very real.
Borat is a film that I can rewatch countless times with guaranteed laughs.
‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’
Popstar follows a band called The Style Boyz, made up of the SNL musical group Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone).
The film focuses on the Style Boyz’s beginnings, Conner’s (Andy Samberg) solo career, and the eventual reunification of the group.
The mockumentary style of Popstar is amplified, with real people such as 50 Cent, Simon Cowell, Seal, and Jimmy Fallon all making appearances as themselves.
It also features (hilarious) music, including songs by P!NK, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, and Michael Bolton.
As a big fan of The Lonely Island in general, Popstar is a film that just brings a smile to my face anytime I even see a clip of it online.
Tim Meadows, who plays Harry, Conner’s manager in the film, is a personal favourite comedy actor, so his character is one of the best in my opinion, along with Justin Timberlake’s character, Tyrus.
When a mockumentary doesn’t work
While I love a mockumentary, there are times when the format doesn’t work.
Modern Family is a great example of a mockumentary that doesn’t seem to work.
I love Modern Family and have rewatched it countless times, but the show’s format always has me forgetting that it is going for a documentary style.
The camera work shoots the scenes that aren’t pieces to camera like any other show, so the concept of a documentary seems to fade.
Another example is the Paranormal Activity franchise.
These were the first ‘horror’ movies I ever watched as a kid, and even then (and I believed in ghost sightings on YouTube), I found it hard to believe.
The budget of the first film was only $215,000, so the unrealistic stunts are forgivable for an independent film.
But the second film, which is arguably worse, was produced for $3 million, and the following films continued to increase in budget.
With the success and effectiveness of The Blair Witch Project, we can see that a found-footage, mockumentary-style horror film can work, just not in Paranormal Activity’s case.
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