Netflix Dark Comedy Series Russian Doll Gets Insane Trailer
Somebody isn't having a very good day.
Netflix has dropped the very NSFW first trailer for Russian Doll, a dark comedy series which stars Orange is the New Black's Natasha Lyonne as a woman forced to keep reliving the same night — one which always ends in her death. The spot appeared this morning on the streamer's YouTube channel.
Set to the psychedelic strains of Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover" (over and over), the trailer restarts itself twice as an increasingly confused woman named Nadia (Lyonne) tries to make sense of what's happening to her. It's her birthday, and she's set to attend a super-dope party in the heart of the Big Apple; unfortunately, the fun concludes with an abrupt encounter with a speeding taxi, leaving her dead in the middle of the street. Then, we start over; the second go-round ends with a deadly tumble down a flight of stairs, a fate which she actively tries to avoid for the third repetition. Alas, this only results in a slightly different but no less fatal variation of the incident, after which the trailer moves on to show Nadia attempting to enlist the help of some egghead friends in figuring out her predicament. "I keep dying and reliving the same night!" she says exasperatedly; "Does it hurt?" one of her buddies asks. You can probably guess her annoyed response.
The rest of the spot highlights Lyonne's deadpan comic sensibility as Nadia tries to break the loop in hilarious yet ultimately unsuccessful fashion, taking a short break from the mayhem for an awesome exchange between the poor woman and a skeptical psychiatrist. "Should I call my guy at Bellevue?" the shrink asks. A decidedly worse-for-wear looking Nadia inquires as to whether this is the nicest psych ward, to which the shrink replies, "It's definitely the closest one."
The spot then escalates into a series of crazy and provocative quick cuts, over which the psychiatrist's voiceover intones, "I look at you now, chasing down death at every corner... fighting your way to the light. Do you still have that in you?" It then wraps up with a very interesting exchange between Nadia and her fellow passenger on an elevator, as said elevator is hurtling rapidly toward the ground floor and certain doom. "Didn't you read the news? We're about to die!" she says. "It doesn't matter. I die all the time," the man responds, suggesting that Nadia is not the only one caught in this nefarious cycle.
Okay, so let's just get this out of the way: it doesn't take an eagle-eyed pop culture enthusiast to realize that this is a very, very similar premise to the 2017 feature film Happy Death Day and its upcoming sequel, right down to the action taking place on the protagonist's birthday. Russian Doll, however, scraps the element of a mysterious killer in favor of a series of seemingly random events, and the spot's conclusion spells out the fact that the time loop isn't centered on just one person. It also plays up the humorous elements of the premise, taking advantage of the comedic yet relatable persona of Lyonne, who also serves as a co-writer on the show along with Leslye Headland (Sleeping With Other People). Deadline reports that the duo co-created the series along with Saturday Night Live and Parks and Recreation alum Amy Poehler; the supporting cast includes Lyonne's Orange is the New Black co-star Dascha Polanco, Oceans 8's Elizabeth Ashley, Charlie Barnett of Chicago Fire, and Oscar-nominated actress Chloë Sevigny.
While Lyonne is a great fit for the material, here's hoping that Netflix's timing doesn't sink this potentially amazing series before it even gets off the ground. The eight-episode first season is slated for release on February 1; Happy Death Day 2U hits screens not even two weeks later, on February 14. If Russian Doll's behind the camera talent is any indication, however, it won't take long to set itself apart in one way or another from the burgeoning horror series.