Inside the Madness of Making Believe — The Human Story Behind The Bubble
Apatow’s The Bubble came to Netflix in 2022 and, as though a bizarre time capsule, it encapsulated the absurdity, anxiety, and claustrophobic humor triggered by the lockdown. While a viewer might think The Bubble is just a goofy ensemble comedy centered on a group of actors caught in a pandemic shooting, the film is a satire that explores, in perhaps a more significant way than most, themes of anxiety and ego, and the universal and deeply human longing for connection. Such themes are particularly prominent in the Indian context, where kinship, social visibility, and community are the foundational components of one’s identity.
A group of egotistical actors attempt to shoot a movie, Cliff Beasts 6, in a hotel, while the rest of the world seems to be coming to an end. People find the manic humor and frantic pacing of the movie to be unsatisfactory, but the feelings of the characters are quite relatable. During the pandemic, we all felt we were living in a bubble, being profusely unproductive, and going through the resets of a surreal and futile reality.
As outlandish and absurd the plot of The Bubble seems to be, it is the plot and the actual people behind it and their social and personal realities that give the movie its real charm.
Apotow, having directed the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up, sold himself to The Bubble as a form of creative exercise. During lockdown, directors and producers of all the film industries were faced with uncertainty.
Apatow transformed apprehension into humor. Along with a mix of misfits, megastars, and his daughter Iris Apatow, he filmed the entire project while the pandemic regulations were in place. Perhaps, this was the most self-referential project Apatow carried out, attempting to capture the essence of a film within a film where people are trying to make a movie and are losing their sanity to isolation. The absurdity of the situation was well put in the following quote: “I was fascinated by how absurd we all became, trying to pretend that art could fix what was happening.”
Therefore, The Bubble has a feeling of love, and roast, at the same time. Love of the art of filmmaking, the fame that comes with it, and a roast of the people with the fragile egos that come with them.
Every character in The Bubble was a composite of real world people and the performance of each cast member was authentic and embellished by their own burdens.
Karen Gillan, cast as Carol Cobb, the insecure lead actress yearning to regain her lost prominence, has also been balancing blockbuster commitments in the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ franchise with smaller, high-risk options. Her character’s anxiety of being ‘replaceable’ is, in some regard, similar to Gillan’s balancing act between indie credibility and the franchise. Her Instagram behind-the-scenes shares revealed how she self-deprecatingly laughed at herself in shooting takes, acknowledging (unconsciously, perhaps) the film’s mockumentary aspect.
Pedro Pascal, playing the self-absorbed action hero, Dieter Bravo, is a real show-stealer. His performance is a blend of manic energy and fragile bravado. During this time, Pascal’s fame was also rising enormously due to The Mandalorian and Narcos, and yet, here he chose to mock his fame, an exception in the industry where poking fun at Hollywood is common. During this time, Pascal also stated that due to quarantine, he reevaluated his fame and solitude, a conflict his character faces in hotel quarantine, drug spirals, and grotesque video calls.
Likewise, Leslie Mann has been chaotic and a veteran actor, most recently portraying Lauren Van Chance. Mann has been part of Apatow’s films since Knocked Up, and, as Apatow’s real wife, has made her marital tension during lockdown into comedy gold. Their lightspeed humor about the monotony of lockdown has influenced her performance, especially in the scenes where the cast starts to slowly lose their collective sanity.
As for David Duchovny, he leans into the self parody of a “serious actor who thinks he is saving cinema.” With a reputation for a self deprecating sense of humor, Duchovny has been famous enough to criticize the self important and pretentious actor. When his character in Cliffbeasts 6 proclaims it “about the soul of humanity,” it is a real and funny statement reminiscent of the many desperate artists during lockdown trying to justify chaos with the soul of their work.
Iris Apatow, the youngest member of the cast, played TikTok influencer Krystal Kris. For her, The Bubble was more than a movie: it was a time capsule. She showcased a new brand of celebrity: viral, digital, emotionally open, and somewhat adrift. In India, the pandemic brought a similar phenomenon: film stars were replaced by influencers, and the new cultural standard of fame was relational and accessible, far removed from the craft of the art.
When the Cameras Stopped, the Chaos Didn’t
What most viewers do not know is that The Bubble, like the film’s plot, was shot under real, tight COVID restrictions. The crew was in semi-isolation in the UK, and a number of the actors later said that the meta-narrative began to blur with reality. There were real delays caused by testing, sudden quarantines, and lockdowns that were enforced in the middle of shoots.
As new restrictions were announced, production would halt, which was, according to Karen Gillan, a cause of frustration and cabin fever. In a sense, the cast was living what their characters were feeling — stuck, restless, and longing for normal human interaction.
It is rumored that, due to changing pandemic conditions, he had to rewrite a script several times. What began as a comedic exploration of filmmaking transformed into a chronicle of collective exhaustion — a phenomenon that resonated with many, from Los Angeles to Lucknow.
The Buzz, the Backlash, and the Quiet Understanding
The reception to The Bubble was polarizing. Some thought it was a bloated meta-joke that overstayed its welcome, while others viewed it as a time capsule of the cultural absurdity of the unpleasant pandemic lockdown. The discourse on social media saw fans from India and other countries argue whether the film was too self-aware or simply mirrored the vanity of the industry.
The emotional connection that Indian audiences made with The Bubble was largely from its emotional rather than satirical aspects. The pandemic had impacted Bollywood too — the cancellations of film productions and the “stars” of the industry being forced to confront the sheer fragility of their fame. The “Western” celebrities “suffering” under the same conditions of lockdown was a familiar scenario. Actors attempting to perform stunts in hazmat suits or shoot romantic scenes from six feet apart resonated profoundly. It was the truth with a laugh track, not parody.
The movie generated discussions on social media over mental health, especially artistic burnout. Viewers critiqued The Bubble’s portrayal of loneliness, a situation in which the world’s disconnected, people desperately seeking “TikTok stars” in cinema, and the façade of humor people display.
What Remains after the Laughter
Not considering the reviews, The Bubble still stands, a form of a cinematic diaries. It is a diary of Hollywood but more so of humanity’s isolated existence. It reflects the creators’ and the performers’ desperate need to create in order to hold on to sanity, art and a director’s courage.
Lockdowns in Indian households turned sitting rooms into centers of Bubble frustration and humor. This is why The Bubble is oddly relatable. The emotional truths, the mad silliness, and the misfires offer the reminder that every bubble, be it of fear, family, or fame, bursts eventually. But not before it holds a mirror to us.
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