Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Cunk On Cinema’ on Netflix, Seeing the History of Film Through a Foolish Lens

Résumé détaillé

Somehow, heartbreak feels funny in a place like this.

Diane Morgan is at it again! This time, her fictional expert Philomena Cunk foolishly asks famous actors, directors, composers and academics slightly misinformed questions about the history of cinema. Originally three episodes for BBC Two, Netflix has carved it up into Five Easy Pieces — no, six Etsy peaches of parody — for you to enjoy.

Opening Shot: Cunk stands on The Hollywood Walk of Fame, looking into the camera while telling us: “Humankind has been responsible for some incredible achievements, conquering the landscape, growing the Great Wall of Chinese, discovering the Mona Lisa, and inventing global warning. But none of these superficially impressive feats compares to our finest creation, cinema.”

The Gist: The latest mockumentary project from Charlie Brooker and Diane Morgan follows 2023’s limited series Cunk On Earth and the 2025 film, Cunk On Life.

You may recognize Morgan from more traditional comedy roles such as Liz in the BBC Two sitcom, Motherland, or Kath in Netflix’s After Life. But her Cunk creation has taken on a life of its own, earning her an Emmy nomination for writing as well as two nominations at the BAFTAs. Philomena Cunk’s malapropisms and general befuddlement put her interview subjects on edge. The episodes follow the history of film roughly chronologically, so the first 13 minutes cover the origins of cinema and the silent era.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Obviously, Cunk on Earth and Cunk on Life.

The first episode includes a series of montages that show off what makes movies so spectacular, including footage from Superman (1978), Mutiny on the Bounty, Hello, Dolly!, Star Wars, Independence Day, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, Spider-Man (2002), London Has Fallen, and White Eagle before finally faking us out with 1902’s Le Milles-Pattes Humain, directed by Monsieur “Pois de Merde.”

“It’s hard to imagine a time before film, unless you watch a film of it, which you can’t because cameras hadn’t been invented yet,” Cunk…

Cunk…

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