When I first came across the show “Common Side Effects,” I was intrigued. Aside from when I was younger, the movies and shows I have watched have primarily been live-action — making the show’s adult animation style somewhat of a new territory for me.
With a release date of Feb. 2, the fictional show from Adult Swim has garnered much critical acclaim, achieving a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The show follows the story of Marcello, a man who finds a miracle mushroom that has the ability to cure any illness or injury. While he aims to spread his discovery to the world, Reutical Pharmaceuticals, a big pharma company, pushes back on the discovery by trying to stop the mushroom’s existence from being known due to their belief that it will disrupt their profit. The ten-episode season highlights Marcello and his friend Frances’ journey to fight back against Reutical and heal the public using their mushrooms.
Although the animation format took some time to get used to, this show proved to be incredibly entertaining and thought-provoking. It stands as a satirical social critique of American healthcare, exposing the corruption behind healthcare privatization. The exaggerated plotline of a magical mushroom aims to prove how deeply rooted the profit-making scheme is — insinuating that even if there was an opportunity to help everyone in this country, American healthcare would pass up on it due to its detrimental impact on business.
Despite the animation adding a unique element to the show, the style could have been a little more expressive, such as giving characters more emotion and body language clues to give them more depth. It’s a small area for improvement and something that could be considered for the upcoming second season.
Overall, the hero’s journey of Marcello offers hope to viewers, showing that change can be made by just about anyone — as long as we take a stand and fight for what we believe in. From the empowering message to the unique storytelling style, “Common Side Effects” is a must-watch.
Sowmya Krishna can be reached at [email protected].
