TL;DR – While it never truly commits to its absurdist premise, there are moments when it shines.

Disclosure – I paid for the Stan service that viewed this film.

C*A*U*G*H*T Review –

There is a version of Australian comedy that takes a very irreverential look at power structures. Where no one is immune from the castigation, it is within this space that we find ourselves today, delving into a geo-political quagmire that only Australia could do.   

So to set the scene, we open on a hostage video in progress as four captured Australian soldiers, Rowdy Gaines (Ben O’Toole), Albhanis Mouawad (Lincon Younes), Phil Choi (Alexander England), and Dylan Fox (Kick Gurry), on the island nation of Behati-Prinsloo plead for their lives. It is heartbreaking as the prisoners are attacked on camera when they don’t follow the script, even more so for the Australian government, which officially states that it has no armed forces in the region. It is a simple call for help … help to survive … help not to be murdered … until the cameras cut, and the four celebrate how good the take was. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

To say that this series is a spoof is both an accurate description and possibly a tame understanding of just how on the nose they are going for here. We get our full team-up moment from films like Mission: Impossible with the mission to take out critical intel, with a collection of different soldiers with specific scenes, including a ‘face’. It is full of essential tones, and all the words feel familiar to the situation. However, under the surface, if you know anything about Australian culture, you will know immediately all is not what it seems. By playing it so straight, they are highlighting the absurdity of it all. This would have been clear even if Sean Penn (Sean Penn) had not just made a fool of himself on Australian morning television. He’s not the first international star to fall foul of that.  

The scenario itself is as geographically confused as it is weirdly understandable. Look, Australia getting itself entangled in a geo-political mess because a minister of defence wanted a dick pic deleted and is too cheap to pay for a rescue is the kind of stupidity I could almost believe is a real scenario. However, this is the gateway to exploring issues like geo-political exploitation, media perceptions around terrorism or resistance fighters, economic disruption, social media vulnerabilities, media erosion, and class warfare. Does the series actually tackle any of these topics well? Okay, no. However, they are throwing these concepts out there laced with humour that might be someone’s first time thinking about the environmental destruction of golf courses made by someone backed by Saudi oil money, or Americans destabilising governments for their own geo-political reasons, or how manufactured early morning TV is.     

While not everything landed, it is clear that the cast is giving their all to this weird and sometimes wonderful show. The four soldiers are the heart of the show, and I think they do an excellent job of exploring what it would be like for people put in this oddly specific scenario. They throw all their bodies into this role, and I am sure some of those scenes were likely not fun to film. I think the MVPs were Shammi Amaral (Mel Jarnson) and Mamalo Amaral (Dorian Nkono), who tied it all together, and it was fun watching them riff on their roles.

The rest of the cast fundamentally knows what sort of role they are in and are entirely playing up into that role of people being on Utopia, but people could die at any moment. Watching Bryan Brown and Erik Thomson dance around talking about a race that no one quite understands is one of those moments that reminds me that we named a pool after a prime minister who drowned. There was also many international talent that mostly fit in with the show’s Australian vibe. The standout for me was Matthew Fox, who leaned in hard, and look, it was nice that Susan Sarandon Zoomed in. Also, Sean Penn was much more of a good sport than I expected. the is some big True Lies energy happing here that works.

However, does the show work when you get to the heart of the matter and here I am not sure. It felt like a tone issue never quite got nailed down throughout the runtime. The absurdity was clearly there, but bar one or two moments in the first episode, it honestly felt more safe than anything else. But then those wild moments are still there and start to impair the message the show is trying to make. To be clear, this is a show that goes to some wild places. You will hear a slurping sound that may haunt your dreams and a scene where a character understandably threw up, and I had to look away from the screen. Also, structurally, not every flashback worked, and it ended in an odd place.

In the end, do we recommend the first season of C*A*U*G*H*T? Well? Look, I think the language, nudity, and violence will be an understandable dealbreaker for people. Even if it is mostly prosthetics on display. However, when the show is working, it is an absurd delight where no one is safe from its caustic spray.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen C*A*U*G*H*T yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of C*A*U*G*H*T
Directed by – Kick Gurry
Written by – Kick Gurry
Created by – Kick Gurry
Production/Distribution Companies – Freemantle Media, Deeper Water Films, Little Bird Films & Stan
Starring – Ben O’Toole, Kick Gurry, Lincon Younes, Alexander England, Mel Jarnson, Dorian Nkono, Fayssal Bazzi, Rebecca Breeds, Bella Heathcote & Erik Thomson with Karl Stefanovic, Allison Langdon, Brooke Boney, Silvia Colloca, Emily Adler, Amber Clayton, Daniel Webber, Taofia Pelesasa, Sarah Abo, Hamish MacDonald, V Trivedi, Benjamin Wang, Niall Connon-Jackson, Ariel Donoghue, Rob Carlton, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Gabrielle Chan, Kee Choon ‘KC’ Lee, Jye Mc Callum, Luca Donoghue, Joshua Nyquest, Helen Chebatte, Simon Elrahi, Justine Clarke, Claire Lovering & Brandon McLell and Nicholas Hammond, Jessica de Gouw, Tuppence Middleton, Olga Korotyayeva, Bryan Brown, Travis Fimmel, John C. McGinley, Ian Thorpe, Brandon McLelland, Matthew Fox, Susan Sarandon & Sean Penn
Episodes Covered – Everyone Loves Australians, Blue Check Mark, Content, Cancelled,
The Greatest Show, Man & Deep Fake.