Andy Samberg, Kit Harington's HBO special '7 Days In Hell' is a complete riot

7 Days In Hell, an upcoming HBO special that was screened at SXSW on March 13, is a hilarious, often weird nod to Christopher Guest’s best work. Directed by Funny or Die vet Jake Szymanski and written by Girls’ Murray Miller, the short film is a hilarious parody of what’s typically a super serious sport: tennis.

The title refers to a mythical Wimbledon tennis match that ran for seven days - three days longer than it took to actually make the 50-minute film. On one side of the court is Aaron Williams (Andy Samberg), Venus and Serena Williams’ white adopted brother. On the other side is British tennis prodigy Charles Poole (Kit Harington), whose vocabulary consists of “indubitably” and not much else.

Charles has the weight of a nation on his back, as he hopes to be the first U.K. Wimbledon winner in decades. Things get so heated that he even gets a call from Queen Elizabeth II (June Squibb), which steadily becomes more threatening as the match goes on.

For Aaron, the match will announce his comeback to tennis. He flamed out in the late 90s after killing a man on the court with his intense serve. Then, he somehow wound up in Swedish jail, following the success of his A. Willi underwear. Now out of prison, he can once again pursue his dream of becoming the No. 1 ranked player in the world.

As the match goes on, things get crazier and crazier. It really reaches a climax when Aaron has sex on the course with streakers.

7 Days In Hell plays like an extended Saturday Night Live digital short, and it should. The number of SNL vets packed into the film is outrageous. Fred Armisen plays a British tennis historian, while Will Forte (still wearing his Last Man on Earth beard) gives Aaron’s perspective. And of course, there’s Andy Samberg playing Aaron like all other obnoxious Samberg characters.

There’s some other great cameos, including some that I shouldn’t spoil. But I will say that Serena Williams’ deadly serious interviews are priceless.

After the screening, Miller and Szymanski took some questions from the audience. While Samberg wasn’t there physically, Szymanski brought Samberg along via FaceTime. Miller also called up Forte who hadn’t arrived in Austin yet and was completely surprised.

7 Days In Hell is clearly inspired by the recent ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries, with some Guest-style mockumentary humor added. Sadly, Szymanski didn’t have an air date for the special, but it should debut on HBO before the end of the year.

image courtesy of SXSW

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on your website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.