Late Night

‘successful people hate their admirers’ - Katherine Newbury

Captivating from the start, the Mindy Kaling written and produced film, Late Night tells a good story while poking fun at many, if not all, of the social problems in the TV industry.

Late Night sees Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson) attempt to revitalise her late night show, that has been running for two decades, with a fresh writing perspective from inexperienced female writer Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling).

Unfamiliar with Mindy Kaling’s work but well aware of her success on TV with her show the Mindy Project I was quite excited for her film writing debut.

On Newbury’s redemption journey she is able to shine a light on the prominent issues of diversity in the workplace, the #metoo movement, slut shaming and even poking fun at the idea of a white saviour.

The film is rather enjoyable as a story whether you look at it from the perspective of Kaling’s character or that of Thompson’s. This along with the well-paced comedy carried well not only by the two female leads but also by John Early, Reid Scott and Daniel O’Hare, made me find the film great to watch and oddly comforting. Also, the ease at which various characters are able to make jokes about nepotism and diversity are what made  the film that much funnier.  

The ending of the film calls for more diversity in the workplace. But the question then becomes what does equal diversity looks like in a country which was built on institutionalised racism but currently has ethic minorities as such as the Hispanic population is becoming more socially and politically important

America’s confusing political climate aside Late Night is something I would watch again and has set Mindy Kaling up for further film success.