A group of actors try to make the sixth film in a global franchise whilst enduring the difficulties of being in a pandemic bubble. 

The Bubble is a comedy film with a lot going on. It alternately is trying to make light of and parody; cut throat studio executives, Tik-Tok stars, prima donna Hollywood stars, studio franchises and every single iteration of all of those things all at once. 

Carol Cobb (Karen Gillan) is the actress who thought herself too big for the franchise and skipped the fifth entry to star as a half Israeli, half Palestinian woman trying to bring those nations together to fight aliens. Dieter Bravo (Pedro Pascal) is the Oscar winning method actor who wants to have sex with everyone. Sean Knox (Keegan-Michael Key) is the action star who wants to start his own lifestyle religion. Krystal Kris (Iris Apatow) is a Tik-Tok star being introduced to the franchise because of her massive following. Whilst Dustin Mulray (David Duchovny) sees himself as the guardian of the franchise who is constantly trying to rewrite the film whilst reigniting his relationship with his ex-wife Lauren Van Chance (Leslie Mann). And you can already tell how packed the various threads are before I say that I have not even mentioned comic relief Howie Frangopolous (Guz Khan), director  Darren Eigen (Fred Armisen) and studio executives played by Peter Serafinowicz and Kate McKinnon. Oh and the handlers (Harry Trevaldwyn, Samson Kayo), hotel staff (Maria Bakalova, Vir Das), the documentary filmmaker (Nick Kocher) and then there are special effects stand ins and numerous cameos. 

And whilst all of those characters are all vying for their own story moments we also have clips of the film being made. Cliff Beasts 6. Which is sort of a joke about Jurassic Park and all studio franchises in general. 

The result is an incredibly star studded and multi talented sketch show where everyone gets a chance to shine. Some of those sketches are really funny and some are not. But there is always another one round the corner. 

The issue though, as with a lot of Judd Apatow (director and co-writer) comedies is that it goes on far too long. This being a Netflix film I had the opportunity to see how long was left when I felt that the film had run out of steam and lost its way. There was 35 minutes left of a 126 minute film. 

There is no doubt there are some funny moments and good performances in here. Its skewering of Hollywood actors and executives is amusing whilst its broader aim at franchise films less interesting. But it absolutely could have dropped entire characters and plot lines and made itself a far better film for it. Rather than an amusing diversion that outstays its welcome.