The ‘Burbs is a binge-worthy mix of mystery and black comedy

You can assume that the popularity of genre blend whodunnit Only Murders in the Building is why we’re suddenly getting a series based on a largely forgotten Tom Hanks movie from the Eighties.

Like its source material, the new The ‘Burbs – streaming on Showmax in South Africa – is a palatable marriage of thriller mystery and black comedy. However, this contemporary take also injects a moderate amount of social commentary, in the vein of Get Out, thanks to a key creative change from show creator Celeste Hughey, whose writing credits include tonally similar Palm Royale and Dead to Me.

In The ‘Burbs, newly married, mixed-race couple Rob (Jack Whitehall) and Samira (Keke Palmer) accept the offer from Rob’s parents to move from the city to their suburban home as the older couple retires on a cruise ship. Attorney Samira is somewhat reluctant to relocate to the white picket fence enclave (emphasis on white) but Hinkley Hills is considered “the safest town in America” and she wants to give baby son Miles the open spaces she didn’t have while growing up.

Bored during her maternity leave, though, Samira begins to suspect there’s something sinister going on in the cul-de-sac where the family lives, especially in regard to the abandoned Victorian house across the street.

Rob and childhood best friend Naveen (Kapil Talwalkar) are reluctant to talk about the disappearance and suspected murder associated with the building, leading Samira to recruit her quirky neighbours, widowed wine mom Lynn (Julia Duffy), rough-and-ready former Marine Dana (Paula Pell), and definitely-on-the-spectrum Tod (Mark Proksch), to help with her investigation.

The ‘Burbs’ core mystery is the show’s weakest component. It starts off compelling enough but the longer the series goes on, the more its inherent bait-and-switch nature creates knots of distracting inconsistency. Earlier character actions and events often lose all logic when examined post-plot twist. With hindsight, they simply no longer make sense.

While you won’t be watching The ‘Burbs for deep cerebral stimulation, there’s massive entertainment value in the ensemble cast, and some of the sharpest, laugh-out-loud dialogue you’ll encounter on the small screen at the moment.

The ‘Burbs is carried along by the immense likeability of its cast and characters, with Nope star Palmer radiating charisma at sun wattage. Samira is sassy, self-aware but also vulnerable when she needs to be, and she has convincing chemistry with British actor and comedian Whitehall. The pair credibly convey the warmth of an established, loving couple, and their banter is only matched by that between Whitehall and Talwalkar.

Meanwhile, comedy veterans Duffy, Pell and Proksch exploit their characters’ eccentricities to maximum comic effect, and every so often RJ Cyler swoops in as the show’s scene stealer, playing Langston, Samira’s street-smart brother, who observes and comments on the suburban shenanigans as an outsider.

The ‘Burbs is an unapologetically R-rated show, peppered with profanity and graphic violence that leans to the realistic. It’s clearly catering to fans of things like Hot Fuzz and the already-mentioned Only Murders in the Building – namely adults with a dark sense of humour, who have no problem guffawing one second and gasping the next.

With episodes typically clocking in at about 40 minutes each, The ‘Burbs makes for an easy, and easy-to-digest, binge. That may be why, instead of weekly drips, the series released in its entirety – in the US on 8 February and in South Africa on the 11th. Its creators perhaps realised that The ‘Burbs is the kind of show that is very watchable, but not gripping enough to bring viewers back week on week.

Again, it doesn’t really matter. As audiences are won over by Samira and her charming found family of weirdos, it’s not difficult to downplay the show’s shortfalls. This includes the cheeky decision to end the season – and possibly the series if it isn’t renewed – on a cliff-hanger. Just as the residents of Hinkley Hills “try to act nice until they’re actually nice”, The ‘Burbs delivers a “nice” time for grown-ups. Just nothing more substantial. DM

This review is based on all eight episodes of The ‘Burbs Season 1, with early access supplied by Showmax and NBC Universal. This review was first published on Pfangirl.