Chelsea Peretti’s ‘First Time Female Director’ Is Manic Comedy Genius

I thought I might know what to expect going into comedian Chelsea Peretti’s debut feature, aptly titled First Time Female Director, which premiered Monday at the Tribeca Film Festival. After all, I had heard the parodic play she performed in 2017—a rural, Southern drama called Rain’s Comin’ In, a riff on Tennessee Williams’ melodramatic style—which is reworked for the film.

It seemed most of the festival audience thought they had a handle on what they’d be seeing too, judging from the overheard conversations that buzzed before the film began. Some were there as fans of Peretti’s work on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, others were fans of her standup, and several were there just to see what kind of riot a star-studded cast of comedians might be able to dredge up together.

All of us, including myself, were completely unprepared for a comedy as unapologetically manic—and utterly original—as First Time Female Director.

Read more at The Daily Beast.