‘The Bubble’ is a comedy film that follows a group of actors who are forced to stay within a bubble and shoot a franchise movie in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
The world is amid a pandemic with lockdowns and restrictions everywhere. A big film has decided to film the 6th instalment of their franchise, ‘Cliff Beasts’, and it is up to the studio producer Gavin (Peter Serafinowicz) to get it done.
The cast all gather at this fancy palatial hotel in London with each of them going through a 14 day quarantine period before meeting each other. Carol Cobb (Karen Gillian) has joined the series once again after bailing on the 5th movie, something the other cast members weren’t happy with.
Lauren (Leslie Mann) and Dustin (David Duchovny) are part of the cast but are also a divorced couple who have a very shaky relationship. Krystal Kris (Iris Apatow) is a TikTok influencer brought into the movie because of her massive fan following.
Sean (Keegan-Michael Key) is the action specialist while Dieter (Pedro Pascal) is the veteran actor just looking for a quick buck and not bothered with the quality of the movie. The cast is rounded off with Howie (Guz Khan) who is the comic relief.
Gavin introduces the cast to their director, Darren (Fred Armisen), a novice director who has a clear vision for where he wants to take this film. The first couple of days is spent with the actors just preparing and getting a feel of their surroundings.
Soon after the first day of shooting, they hit their first roadblocks as someone on set tests positive for covid, forcing everyone to go back into quarantine. Everyone deals with the isolation in their weird ways to kill time.
Carol wanders to a different floor one night and comes across a football team who are in their bubble. She feels a spark with one of the players. Everyone is back together after their brief separation as they sit down for a round of meditation.
Howie cannot take the conditions anymore and loses his mind. He leaves the hotel and the movie, forcing the studio to bring in Mr Best (Ross Lee) to ensure there are no more disturbances. He comes off as someone that must not be trifled with.
The crew continue until there is an influenza outbreak on the set. They try to walk it off but all the actors fall sick and they’re forced to delay things once more. Carol is getting fed up with the situation and attempts to get her co-stars to join her in protest but they brush her off.
Because of Carol’s outburst, her role in the film is trimmed down. She remains frustrated by the whole ordeal and it slowly spreads to the others. Mr Best beefs up security to worrying levels to combat any potential threats.
Lauren finally has enough and runs out of the hotel to get away but she gets her hand shot off. Things seem to be going off the rails and Gavin is under pressure from his bosses to keep things flowing. He insists they shut production down because it’s not working.
When they’re trying to shoot an action scene, everything goes haywire and multiple people end up injured. Carol checks with her agent about getting out of the film but her contract is watertight. Dustin keeps suggesting rewrites and trying to take control of the film.
With all the tension in the air, the studios hold a short concert for the cast to lighten the mood but in their next media interview, they drop the news that the shoot will continue for Cliff Beasts 7 immediately. This feels like the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
If you have any doubts about the ending, here is a complete breakdown.
The Bubble ending explained in detail
The screws are coming loose
Carol is distraught and says that she did not agree to shoot another movie on top of this one. She tries to get a message out to the world with the help of Krystal but Krystal does not post her cry for help because it would damage her brand.
She seeks help from Sean because she feels that she’s not able to keep it together and he’s always so happy and positive all the time. That’s when his truth comes out. He states that he’s just a fraud who doesn’t know what he’s doing either.
Krystal is on the verge of being cancelled because she snuck out of the set one night to party in the streets of London. She panics about her future because without this, she has nothing.
A family bands together
Carol goes into Dieter’s room followed by the others and they all get together and do a bunch of drugs and make Tiktoks until Dieter keels over because of an overdose. Everyone tries different methods to try and save him until they final stick a needle in his heart that brings him back.
Carol sees this as a sign that if they work together again, they can get out of this wretched experience. So while they are shooting the final scene of the film, Dustin brings up some notes as a distraction while the other cast members sneak out of the set.
They all head in different directions trying to escape. Once the crew find out the plan, Mr Best goes after them to catch them. Krystal reaches out to her followers to tell them what’s going on.
The film has its climax
Sean jumps over cars and many other obstacles to escape the security guards. Krystal gets into a fight with the girl who was paid to be her friend and makes sure she stuck to the schedule. Dieter leads Mr Best through a set where he gets caught in rigged explosions.
When Mr Best is chasing Carol, Howie pops up and shoots him in the hand with an arrow under orders from Gavin. They all make it to the helicopter but meet Darren on the way. He and Dustin get into a choreographed fight until Dustin goes off script and comes out on top.
They all get into the chopper and eventually escape. It is then revealed that the guy asked to shoot behind the scenes footage ended up cutting it together and made a documentary about the making of Cliff Beasts 6, giving them all a chance to walk the red carpet regardless of what took place before.
Also Read: Bridgerton season 2 review: Appealing period drama with striking aesthetics