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The title alone gives the viewer an idea of ​​what to expect. Deerthe new comedy from the producers of Sex education. We have been here before with films like Last Vegas, Very bad things And The Hangover: A motley group of friends gets angry at pre-wedding drinking parties and chaos ensues.

Considering this familiar premise, Deer comes out of the starting blocks in a sprint, with the soon-to-be-married Londoner Stu (Nico Mirallegro) and best friends, including Greg (People just do nothing‘s Asim Chaudhry) and Ant (This countryCharlie Cooper of “The 40 Years of the 40 Years”) moves from plane to hotel to nightclub within 10 minutes. These guys know how to have fun, even if some of them can’t say exactly where they are (we know they’re in South America, but the country is never named).

As liquor is downed, drugs are consumed, and the club boss empties his stomach contents while talking on the phone with his fiancée, the pace doesn’t let up until several days later, their skin is extremely green, at the airport gate. While customs officials stand around with assault rifles in hand, one of them, Greg, suffers a seizure, triggered by an exploding bag of cocaine that he had hidden in his butt. The group is rounded up, dolled up, put in yellow overalls, and loaded onto a rubber dinghy that takes them to a prison island.

Here the plot takes a new turn, as they are confronted with a Bosch-esque hellscape where prisoners riot, guards pay no attention to the chaos around them, and the new arrivals’ demands to visit the British consulate fall on deaf ears. “It makes Guantanamo seem stuffy,” says Cavan Clerkin’s John, who, as the oldest of the group, becomes its de facto leader.

All of the above occurs in the frenetic first episode – the only one available to critics – which presents a problem: We don’t yet know enough about these hapless Brits to root for them. And while there is the occasional good line, the comedy is tempered by the unpleasantness of their predicament. Of course, there is time for Deer has yet to get going, but so far the mood is a high-speed montage of every bachelor party movie ever made.

★★☆☆☆

The first two episodes will air on Paramount+ from August 15th; new episodes will be released weekly