We’re often told that college is a place to reinvent yourself, to have a fresh start. But what if the self you invent isn’t true? That’s the central question in A24 and Amazon Prime Video’s new series, Overcompensating.
Loosely based on creator Benito Skinner’s own college experience at Georgetown University, Overcompensating follows protagonist Benny (Skinner) as he navigates his closeted gay identity as a freshman at the fictional Yates College. Benny and a girl he meets during orientation, Carmen (Wally Baram), quickly strike up a friendship. But Benny’s integrity is tested against his deep desire to retain his high school persona: the über-straight football player and homecoming king.
Overcompensating is packed with what can only be described as absurd caricatures of college. But those caricatures feel painfully real. Carmen is surrounded by swarms of couples making out around her at her first frat party. Peter (Adam DiMarco)—Benny’s sister’s boyfriend—sprays an ungodly amount of AXE on himself as he gets ready for the day. If you can squint past the fact that most of the actors are nowhere near college-aged, you might just see your first-year college experience unfolding in the scenes.
Skinner is better known for his online persona Benny Drama, which went viral during the pandemic. On his Instagram, Skinner is often seen playing caricatures—Jenni the TMI Hairstylist, Deliverance Richards, or, my personal favorite, Kourtney Kardashian. Overcompensating was a departure for Skinner.
“It was scarier for me,” Skinner said in a college roundtable interview with the Maroon. “I became more comfortable [with] bigger character work. But it was an exciting challenge. This felt the scariest, to make an ensemble where I’m not playing everyone, and I have to develop characters that have strong voices and strong actions. […] I felt scared to make my first videos. So then I [was] like, ‘I think I’m doing the right thing.’”
What Overcompensating does well, between its comedic moments, is depict the chaotic, confusing, heartfelt period of self-discovery that is the college experience. “[Benny] practicing ‘straight’ lines in the mirror [can feel] really funny and absurd. But I really did that, and it’s really sad, like I can’t believe I did that,” Skinner reflected, referencing a scene from the show drawn from his own college days. “We never wanted to shy away from that [duality] in the show because trying to find yourself is both really funny in retrospect and really sad at times.”
Episode two ends with Benny and Carmen sitting in a parking lot, sharing a Domino’s pizza after a failed attempt to enter a club. As the two bond over their love of Glee and mutual appreciation for one another, something clicks. It’s not romantic love—that much is clear when they kiss. Skinner described the characters’ bond as one that flaunts heteronormative scripts. “[Benny] is like, ‘Okay, I think now we’re supposed to kiss. That’s what everyone told us we have to do at this moment.’ What the fuck?” Benny and Carmen get each other, even if that connection is platonic. Perhaps it’s the way their jokes bounce off each other or the way they unabashedly rap to Nicki Minaj together. It’s hard to pinpoint what it is, but the ambiguity of relationships is what the show gets so right.
Overcompensating, with its absurd caricatures, dirty jokes, and all-too-familiar social rules, shows us the messiness of college—and the beauty of that messiness, too. It’s sure to elicit a reaction out of anyone in, or who has been in, college. Whether that reaction is a laugh or an all-too-knowing sigh depends on how far you’ve gotten when you turn on the TV.
All episodes of Overcompensating’s first season are now available on Amazon Prime Video.
