Our take
Warning: this workplace series takes everything you hate about corporate life and mirrors it back to you with alarming clarity. It takes place in a morally corrupt multinational called Hampton DeVille, and we mostly follow “junior executives in training” Matt and Jake in their daily goings-on in the office. Sometimes, they’re able to cope by sneaking a nap here or making watercooler jokes there—absurd imaginings and occasional protests also help allay their boredom—but for the most part, they’ve given up on the system and are just trudging through the everyday. While Matt optimistically hopes for a better life outside the cubicle, Jake cynically lets him (and us) know that “There no way not to waste your life.”
Like Office Space and Better Off Ted before it, Corporate is endlessly nihilistic, but unlike them, it doesn’t have a redemptive moment where the protagonists find a silver lining in their jobs. No, Corporate is as bleak as it gets. But buoyed by ridiculous hilarity, sharp social commentary, and the insane ability to perfectly describe corporate life, it remains highly watchable, like a dystopian tragicomedy inching closer and closer to real life.
Streaming arrival
The story
A dark, edgy look at life as a Junior-Executive-in-Training at your average, soulless multinational corporation. Matt and Jake are at the mercy of a tyrannical CEO and his top lieutenants while navigating an ever-revolving series of disasters. Their only ally is Human Resources rep Grace.
Elsewhere
"Illuminating white-collar wage slavery with the ruthlessness of fluorescent tubes, the sitcom is a satire of life under capitalism that captures its texture: that of factory-farmed gruel."
— Troy Patterson
"To have that strong of a nihilist streak in a comedy and still have characters worth investing in and returning to is no small feat."
— Steve Greene
The details
Who picked it
Renee Cuisia is the lead curator at A Good Movie to Watch. In her spare time, she likes to watch K-dramas and analyze them to death. She's also seen You've Got Mail one too many times but is still convinced it's one of the greatest films out there.
