A great way to intensify comedy is to make it feel real. ‘Mockumentaries’ blur the lines between truth and fiction, presenting themselves as authentic documentaries on fake subjects. It’s a fascinating sub-genre that when used well can be extremely potent. The same format can be used for serious effect, such as ‘found-footage’ films like The Blair Witch Project or Cloverfield that wring tension and horror from the camera being a real-world hand-held object.
Mockumentaries, however, are more self-aware and ‘constructed’ than those films, gaining comedy from the contrast between their serious deadpan format and the absurdity of what they film. Or as Borat 2 (officially known as Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) shows through injecting a cartoon character into the ‘real-world’, allowing reality to reveal its own absurdity. Borat is different to most mockumentaries given it contains genuine reactions to Sascha Baren Cohen’s schtick (although how staged it all is has been vigorously debated). These other mockumentaries do not have quite the same unscripted nature, but through their mastery of the medium, the laughs are no less real.
Any mockumentary list would be incomplete without the seminal work of the sub-genre, This is Spinal Tap. It was Rob Reiner’s directorial debut, who also starred in the film as documentarian Marty Di Bergi as he follows long-standing band Spinal Tap during their fledgling 1982 hair-metal tour. It pokes fun at rock stars and concerts, from guitarist Nigel (Christopher Guest) complaining about the “miniature bread” backstage to the band getting lost on their way from the dressing room to the stage.
Much of This is Spinal Tap was improvised, letting the natural chemistry between Nigel, David (Michael McKean), bassist Derek (Harry Shearer) and manager Ian (Tony Hedra) propel the comedy as they try to maintain some dignity for the camera despite the increasingly silly circumstances. Even if you’ve already seen the quotable lines of “he died in a bizarre gardening accident” or “these go to 11”, the perfect deadpan delivery makes This is Spinal Tap endlessly rewatchable.
Following This is Spinal Tap, Christopher Guest went on to create a career writing and directing primarily within the mockumentary sub-genre. It’s worth noting that Guest himself dislikes the term, given he doesn’t want to ‘mock’ his eccentric subjects so much as gently satirize extreme sub-cultures and communities. One of his more acclaimed works is Best in Show, following five entrants in a prestigious dog show and their owners, which includes Michael McKean, Catherine O’Hara and Parker Posey.
Best in Show gets comedy out of the surreal situations and bizarre passion these dog owners possess, but it never becomes too nasty or mean, instead being a pleasant improv between determined performers. That it focuses on cute dogs doesn’t hurt either.
This feature film from The Lonely Island was a box-office disappointment, but has since been reclaimed as a side-splitting parody of the music industry and celebrity culture. The Popstar is Connor4Real (Andy Samberg), an immature pop-sensation who split off from his boy band The Style Boyz for solo success, whose most recent album Conquest is a commercial and critical disappointment (Pitchfork gave it a “negative four out of ten. Positive ten I assume”). Popstar unleashes relentless mile-a-minute comedy, satirizing Connor’s desperate attention-seeking while also dipping into plain absurdist humor; after all Eric Andre stars as a “CMZ” reporter alongside Will Arnett. Popstar also has tons of cameos from 50 Cent, DJ Khaled, Ringo Starr, Mariah Carey, Adam Levine, Seal and Justine Timberlake as Connor’s beleaguered personal chef.
Like the best Lonely Island numbers, the songs in Popstar are hilarious as well as being surprisingly catchy, including “I’m so Humble” (where Connor brags about his humbleness), “Equal Rights” (where Connor vouches for gay marriage while making sure everyone knows he isn’t gay himself), and “Finest Girl” (where a woman really stretches a metaphor comparing having sex with the assassination of Osama Bin Laden). Popstar uses the mockumentary to chart the downfall of Connor and our celebrity-obsessed culture, while also becoming a sincere ode to the friendship and creativity of The Lonely Island.
Beauty Pageant films, such as Miss Congeniality, Little Miss Sunshine or Misbehaviour, are often a surprisingly subversive sub-genre about female-focused competitions tackling inbuilt patriarchal and nationalist structures. Drop Dead Gorgeous has a documentary crew look at one teenage pageant in the small Minnesotan town of Mount Rose, which includes adorable Amber (Kirsten Dunst, practising her Fargo Minnesotan accent 16 years early), cheerleader Leslie (Amy Adams) and rich girl Rebecca (Denise Richards). Even with the fact Rebecca’s mom Gladys (Kirstie Alley) is running the contest, the pageant undergoes mysterious ‘accidents’ designed to sabotage the other competitors.
Drop Dead Gorgeous features some dark comedy, which is only enhanced by the candid tone and funny set-pieces, like Rebecca performing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” to a life-sized doll of Jesus. Or the girls proclaiming what makes them most proud to be an American, with Tess (Shannon Nelson), having a headdress of the World’s Largest Ball of Twine, admitting “I kinda misunderstood the assignment”. This mockumentary peers behind the all-American glamour of pageants to show the rigged systems at play, while also letting Amber showcase her fun tap-dance routine.
What We Do In The Shadows was the breakout film of Taika Waititi, featuring that specific understated New Zealand humor as a documentary crew films a group of vampires – Viago (Taika Waititi), Vladislav the Poker (Jemaine Clement), Deacon (Johnathan Brugh) and Petyr (Ben Fransham) – living together in Wellington. The mockumentary contrasts their supernatural folklore with their mundane ‘undead’ existence to fantastic effect, like how they never clean up the dishes or bodies after themselves. What We Do In The Shadows is extremely funny through poking fun at elements of vampire mythology, including a brilliant explanation of why they prefer the blood of virgins.
But What We Do In The Shadows comes from a place of love, as you can tell the genuine passion those involved have for this subject matter. The film knows how to make them genuinely creepy, while also humanizing these macabre monsters by showing how they live together and cannot eat regular food. Despite the blood-sucking subjects, What We Do In The Shadows is a giddy good time that deglamourizes vampires to make them absurd, and also relatable. The best way to mock something is if you love it, and What We Do In the Shadows shows how a good parody comes from making even obviously fictional creatures feel like real people.
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