Deep Cover Review: Improvise. Adapt. Come Undone.

Improv action comedy Deep Cover is a surprise hit

‘Bumbling civilian gets caught up in a police sting’ is a tried and tested source of comedy, but new Brit action flick Deep Cover pushes the silliness even further as a group of wannabe actors find themselves in way over their heads.

American Kat (Bryce Dallas Howard) teaches an improv class at London’s Comedy Store. Through the club, Kat meets Marlon (Orlando Bloom). A failing thespian whose only successful role has been in a pizza advert, he’s taking the class to improve his ‘character work,’ and always pushes his scenes just a step too far. A polar opposite in every way is fellow improv student Hugh (Nick Mohammed) – an overlooked office drone hoping to learn the confidence to stand out amongst his boorish colleagues.

Teaching was never Kat’s dream, and after trying and failing to make her name as a comedian for over 10 years, she’s on the verge of giving up when she’s approached by grizzled cop Billings (Sean Bean) with a very unusual opportunity. Billings is recruiting improv comics to assist with undercover operations – small stakes stuff like buying illegally imported goods or counterfeit handbags – he claims that the criminals spot undercover cops too easily, and these amateur actors are just what the force needs.

It should be easy money for Kat, Marlon and Hugh, who are only supposed to buy some under the counter cigarettes at a local newsagent and then report back. But they ‘’yes and’’ a bit too far, and their excitement to play up their roles as hardened crooks soon sees them swept far deeper into the criminal underworld than planned, with deadly consequences if they fail to convince the genuine bad guys of their criminal pedigree.

Deep Cover brings over a large amount of the technical and creative team from the Channel 4 hit comedy Stath Lets Flats and the Radio 4 comedy double act The Pin, and when combined with a sprinkling of recognisable faces from the UK stand up scene appearing in small roles it all makes for a wickedly funny, if very stupid package.

Where its central trio may feel like an unusual casting for an action comedy, their characters are perfectly drawn while their actors have surprisingly great chemistry. Howard is fleet and quick on her feet, absolutely selling improv as an art. Nick Mohammed’s Hugh isn’t much of a leap from his character in Ted Lasso, a softly spoken, downtrodden underachiever, but he gets all of Deep Cover’s funniest scenes and milks them for all they’re worth.

Orlando Bloom is a revelation. While he himself admits he’s not exactly known for comedy, Marlon will frequently have you laughing out loud as Bloom sends up the art of method acting and actors who take themselves too seriously. He’s a frightfully pretentious figure, spinning farfetched back stories for himself that descend the team of comics into absolute chaos.

The three fake crooks play against some of Britain’s best loved bad guys including Paddy Considine and Ian McShane who delivers an absolutely terrible accent with gusto. Many of the story beats can be predicted down to a tee but there are also some great silly moments that stand out – the cultured villain inviting someone into his glamorous lair for a game of Jenga rather than chess, and a police chase on lime bikes to name but two.

Deep Cover is a surprisingly small budget indie that happens to have been picked up by one of the biggest streamers in the world, and it’s clear that it’s been made with a true passion for comedy by everyone involved. There’s nothing really groundbreaking here, but there’s much to like. Jokes that land, action that hits and lovable, interesting characters that bounce brilliantly off each other. A gem in a sea of streamer dross, Deep Cover invites you to say ‘yes and!’

Deep Cover is streaming on Prime Video from 12th June 2025