Coming Soon(ish): Malta’s Transport Problems Get ‘The Hollywood Treatment’ With Zombies, Russian Espionage And Wild West Shootouts
Malta’s transport problems are no secret. Whether it’s traffic jams from Qormi to Qrendi or another curious case of the vanishing bus, we’ve all been stuck up Triq Creek without a paddle. Even those of us who finished school years ago can always tell when it’s back-to-school day just by the number of cars that take to the road.
Whether you’ve seen someone have a public breakdown or sat through an awkward conversation with your cab driver (both induced by incessant traffic and complemented by the subtle tang of exhaust fumes) you know that things could be much, much better.
In a way, we should be glad. Things could also be much worse – our transport issues aren’t so globally catastrophic as to be made into a Hollywood blockbuster… are they?
Picture this: you’ve got a hot date tonight, you’re all suited and booted and drowned in your favourite cologne.
You head out the door. Phone? Wallet? Keys? Wait, nevermind, you don’t drive. Head straight on to the nearest bus stop – Mellieħa to Valletta isn’t that far.
You finally manage to get down to the waterfront. Your date is passed out on the table she’s been waiting at, it must have been the wine.
Nope. Wrong. It was just the fact that you found traffic on every street and had to change buses halfway and left her waiting for three days.
That is exactly what happens to the characters in one of Coming Soon’s episodes.
Coming Soon is a work of webseries art gifted unto us by local film enthusiast Maxime Durand. Max released this series back at the beginning of 2019, with each episode serving as an addition to an anthology of events that culminate in Malta’s traffic problems. The entire series is now available on YouTube for you to binge-watch at will.
Written and directed by Max, the show brings to stage almost every local actor you can find.
You’ll spot a few familiar faces from Adult Panto, the Malta Improv Group and the most recent GO television campaign, along with a bunch of other cast members that will have you racking your brain to recall how you know them.
While not the biggest cast in terms of collective recognition, the series does allow a number of local artists to showcase their skills, and for a series with an average budget of €60 per episode, it really does deliver in terms of quality.
The acting is sharp, the layering of diagetic and nondiegetic sounds perfectly complement the onscreen action, and the camera – while shaky at times – adds to the effect of this collection of stories having a more organic feel.
In true Maltese fashion, the show is also the product of our melting pot of culture and communities around the island.
You’ll see countries as far as Nigeria and cities as distant as Delhi feature throughout the series, and every episode concludes somewhere on our beautiful island.
Brilliant screenplay, location scouting level 9000, local talent and all around genuine entertainment make Coming Soon a series you need to check out!
Seven episodes, 20 stories, and pure, unadulterated fun being poked at something we all get worked up about. Sometimes it is worth seeing things from another perspective.