The 4th and final title on the “Hidden Gems” list for the month is ‘High Maintenance’.
‘High Maintenance’ is an American anthology comedy-drama television and web series which were created by the ex-husband and wife duo Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld. The series first started out on Vimeo, airing episodes varying from 5-20 mins. They released 6 seasons (19 episodes total) on Vimeo, before HBO took it up in 2016 and made them create a television series from scratch, with each episode getting half an hour of runtime.
‘High Maintenance’ is a largely plotless show, which shows us various tidbits into the lives of New Yorkers who have directly or indirectly had contact with “The Guy”. “The Guy” is our main character and through him we get to know of a world which is uniquely different, yet beautiful. “The Guy” is a cannabis courier (portrayed by the show creator Ben Sinclair), as he delivers his product to clients all over New York City.
‘High Maintenance’ has received high praise for its brilliant portrayal of boredom, loneliness and the human condition. Many of the stories shown on the series are uplifting and some are said to literally “gain back faith in humanity”. Each short story is well thought out and written; the sets, artwork and cinematography – all practical, in fact most episodes cost less than 1000 USD to make.
This series might not be watched much in our country primarily due to the stigma of cannabis in the country, but the series is much more than the use of cannabis. It talks about the people who use them, why they use them and how they still carry on their lives after they consumed the stimulant (see what I did there?). Hopefully this show will help in opening a dialogue – not just for cannabis, but about the stigma on drugs as a whole, addiction, the genetic reasoning behind addiction, etc.
Catch all four seasons of ‘High Maintenace’ which is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
