Deep Cover Parent Guide

Set in the UK, Deep Cover follows three down-on-their-luck amateur improv comedians: Kat, Marlon, and Hugh (played by Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, and Nick Mohammed). Kat is a struggling actress who teaches free improv classes in a bar, has no agent, and is about to lose her work visa. Marlon is a commercial actor who can’t book jobs because he takes every role (even a 30-second ad) way too seriously. Hugh is a socially awkward IT guy who joins an improv class to improve his conversation skills.

Things take a turn when a local police officer, Billings (Sean Bean), recruits them for the revival of an old police program that uses improv actors in “low-level busts,” relying on their quick thinking and lack of official ties to the police. What starts as a small-time sting to buy some illegal marijuana quickly spirals out of control. Thanks to their “yes, and…” mentality (improv fans, you’ll get it), they end up working their way up the ladder and infiltrating multiple drug rings the police have failed to crack for years.

Billings encourages Kat, Marlon, and Hugh to keep climbing the ranks, but because they’re “deep undercover”, no one else in law enforcement knows who they are. To maintain the trust of their criminal contacts, the trio ends up committing a range of crimes themselves (heavy drug use and physical altercations), resulting in their presence at the murder of a major player in a local crime ring. Now the trio are key suspects in the death – and two detectives believe the three actors are the kingpins of these organizations.

As they are forced from one impossible situation to the next, the trio’s improvisation skills become even more crucial - and separating their personal and undercover lives proves increasingly difficult.

Was this film highly entertaining and really funny? Yes, and (see what I did there?), that was pretty much the only clear takeaway. As for positive messaging…if I squint a little and tilt my head, I can sort of find a theme that ‘things will get better’, but if that’s the case, this story also says that joining a crime ring is going to give you the life experiences you need… so do with that what you will. However, for adults who enjoy action comedies and are looking for a laugh, Deep Cover is an easy watch.

Regarding content concerns, well, this movie is literally about drugs, so you’d be hard pressed to find a span of five minutes where they aren’t being used or mentioned. The script also includes extreme levels of profanity as well as some violence, although in lower quantities than one would assume for the genre. There are several car chases and shootouts, but nothing beyond blood is shown (I still wouldn’t suggest it if you’re super queasy, though). The sexual content is also kept to a minimum.

In short: entertaining, absurd, and definitely not one for the whole family