Criminally Underrated Series On Hulu Features Big Laughs And Even Bigger Violence
In recent years, a number of international productions have taken hold over the hearts and minds of American audiences, with outings such as Squid Game, Baby Reindeer, and Money Heist taking in massive viewership figures. One foreign production that is definitely deserving of more attention is the Australian series Mr Inbetween, which originally ran for 3 seasons on FX, and is now streaming on Hulu. Mr Inbetween is a hyper-violent off-the-walls drama with some major comedic elements, and touts one of the most charismatic leading performances on television.
Mr Inbetween’s Cinematic Origin
Mr Inbetween was created and developed for television by Scott Ryan, based on his 2005 found-footage indie film The Magician. Ryan also takes on the leading role in the series, as Ray Shoesmith, a charismatic and likable family man by day, who works as a brutally violent and completely ruthless hit-man by night. The series was picked up after Australian filmmaker Nash Edgerton first saw a screening of The Magician at the St Kilda Film Festival, and quickly became obsessed with expanding the film into a larger narrative.
Stellar Cast Makes The Series Work
Edgerton serves as the director for all 26 episodes of the hit series, with Scott Ryan credited as the sole writer for the show. The cast of Mr Inbetween are likely not household names to most American viewers, though they do an excellent job of rounding out the world of the show and making the consequences and stakes seem incredibly real. Scott Ryan is joined in front of the camera by the likes of Chika Yasumura, Justin Rosniak, Damon Herriman, Brooke Satchwell, Nicholas Cassim, and Natalie Tran.
A Smile That’ll Stop You Dead In Your Tracks
Throughout both The Magician and Mr Inbetween, Ray Shoesmith is shown to maintain positive relationships with his friends and family, while taking out his normally reserved anger on the monsters, killers, and thieves of his community, under strict orders from his boss, Freddy.
Ray is characterized by his ear-to-ear grin, which communicates an equally friendly appearance as well as an absolutely menacing, borderline sociopathic glare depending on the context of the scene.
Those who have seen the show will know that this gaze can cause your hairs to stand on end, as it generally choreographs a gruesome series of impending violence.
A Slept-On Critical Darling
Since the series concluded its 3-season run in 2021, Mr Inbetween has become something of a cult classic, with a small but dedicated fanbase of fully obsessed binge-watchers. The show currently touts a whopping 95 percent certified fresh critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 97 percent general audience score to match. Famed actress Helen Mirren is a noted super-fan of Mr Inbetween, and even urged her agent to personally represent Scott Ryan after binge-watching the series with her husband.
Streaming Mr Inbetween On Hulu
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At this time, Scott Ryan’s only IMDb credits are The Magician and Mr Inbetween, though fans everywhere are surely waiting to see his next move with bated breath. In the meantime, however, Mr Inbetween can be streamed on Hulu, just in case you haven’t yet had the pleasure of checking this excellent series out yet. Even if you’ve already seen it, you can take this write-up as a guilt-free sign that it’s time to run it back and catch the whole series again.
