Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie

Genre: Comedy
Rating: 15
Warning: Some Racism, Continuous Transphobia

What could have been a fun nostalgic film was ruined by the fact it was terrible. Again and again, cheap transphobic jokes and trans people as punchlines. Unfunny and badly written, it was an incredible disappointment.

The so called humour seems stuck in the 60s, with "Eddie is fat" a repeated 'joke' as if the idea that a woman is fat is worth a laugh in itself. Eddie's ex husband is married to a white woman who identifies as black, and is forcing him to undergo transition; this is an entire scene's worth of punchlines.

This is far from the only joke at the expense of trans people (or, as is repeatedly said, "transgenders"). Patsy is so hideous she's mistaken for a trans woman. A drag club is included mostly for the weird factor. Crossdressing as 'deceiving' is a main plot.

There isn't much to 'make up' for this harmful garbage, as the plot is riddled with plot holes, obvious funny situations are glossed over, and some of the situations are simply... boring. A massive plot hole occurs with Saffy's daughter; she's a main character until she isn't needed anymore, then disappears with no explanation until much later, and isn't really even seen again. A great joke is set up every time Partsy and Eddie have to hide from people who would recognise them, and each time the film doesn't really 'do' anything with the situation; nobody talks to them while they're in disguise, nobody looks at their clothes while they're mannequins, and nobody notices them walk through the swimming pool. The heavy handed commentary on the silliness of the fashion world is just dull, as the world hams it up mourning Kate Moss and models whose job it is to walk perfectly in near-crippling heels cry over a stubbed toe.

There are plenty of big names in the cast, which would normally be impressive as the characters aren't fighting for screen time or being awkward distracting cameos. Unfortunately, the bad script and disgusting attempts at jokes just make you wonder if the actors bothered to read the script before agreeing, and noting down all the stars who chose to play transphobic characters. It's very disheartening to see so many famous people standing behind this.

Overall, my less socially-critical mother who brought me up on the TV programme and others like it gave it a minus rating and it was two hours of my life I'm annoyed I'll never get back.