Big Mouth Review – Puberty is a B***h!

Puberty is a bitch!

That’s the motto of Netflix original show Big Mouth. Created by Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin, and Jennifer Flackett. We follow Nick, Andrew, Jessi, Jay and Missy as they are ‘guided’ through the the hard times of becoming a teenager by their hormone monsters Maurice and Connie. 

No matter how long ago it was, we all remember the pain, confusion and embarrassment of puberty. Big Mouth deals with these issues in a dark, comical and honest manner, working with the exaggeration of every emotion and change being the end of the world for a cusping teenager. It pulls no punches, dealing with masturbation, menstruation and sexual frustration in a hilarious and painfully truthful way.

No, I’m not saying when I turned thirteen a seven foot hormone monster took me under their wing. That bit is pure animated fantasy. Emotions going awry, bodily changes and deep seated confusion however were, unfortunately, all reality!

Big Mouth has relatable characters in relatable situations, all garnered with a fantasy cherry on top. It does not shy away from visuals of vaginas and periods, of sexual thoughts and the dark emotional turmoil of pubescents. It’s refreshingly open about sex and, quite uniquely, female sexuality! When the boys heads exploded when they discovered ‘girls get horny too’ or when a tampon version of John Michael Stipe (REM) sang ‘Everybody Bleeds’ I was crying with laughter. Jessi is a beautifully empathetic character, fighting between wanting to be a grown up in her sexy red push up bra and wanting to go back to the simplicity of a world without sexual politics and not bleeding once a month. I feel ya girl!

This is a darkly twisted nugget of animated comedy gold! Following in the giant footsteps of shows like Rick & Morty and BoJack Horseman it utilises it’s medium to make adult points and not have to shy away from the full gory truth. This is the show that tells us were all weird, and that’s okay…mostly.

Season 2 arrives on Netflix today and from the trailer there’s a new character for the poor bitches of puberty to deal with…The Wizard of Shame. Now there’s the character I remember from my puberty! I await more laughs, cringes and painful nostalgic feelings from this new season. Bring it on hormones!! I ain’t your bitch no more!

What do you think of Big Mouth? Do all those shudder inducing feelings come flooding back for you too? Let me know, and don’t worry about the gory details, we’ve all been there!