Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi’s new Netflix collaboration, “Entergalactic,” is hard to categorize. It’s billed as a “television event” and an “animated story.” With a 92-minute running time, I am tempted to call it a film, albeit one divided into sections (which show up as chapter titles, not full episode breaks).
And yet “Entergalactic” lacks many of the things that make up a film. There is a plot, following the typical beats of a romance. But there’s not enough action to say it’s powered by narrative.
This isn’t a character study either. Kid Cudi as Jabari doesn’t have fully baked motivations or experience some profound growth. Neither does his love interest Meadow, voiced by Jessica Williams. Williams and Mescudi both give admirable performances as do their supporting cast members with amusing bits by surprising voices like Macaulay Culkin as Downtown Pat, sharing his (lack of) wisdom in love to Jabari, Jimmy (Timothée Chalamet), and Jordan (Jaden Smith). But as fun as these characters are, they exist more as vibes than as people.
And on the vibe level, “Entergalactic” totally works. It may not be a movie or a TV show but it’s certainly more than an extended music video. It’s an experimental form, using plot and characters to present a collage of multisensory art.
The animation is stunning, presenting a mix of comic book and street art aesthetics. This look reflects our protagonist’s worldview as a graffiti muralist turned comic book creator. We are seeing the world through his eyes, with dashes of the perspectives of the other artists in “Entergalactic.” The piece is full of them: Meadow is a photographer and one of the major plot points revolves around a group show she’s doing.
One of her fellow exhibitors Nadia (070 Shake) introduces her art with “it just gets me tight that people equate New York with gray and darkness when the city’s mad colorful. Even the people are so colorful. So in my work, I try to showcase that.” It’s an ethos that could describe “Entergalactic” itself, which mixes color and black and white scapes to build contrast and drama. Jabari has made a name for himself through large murals of a black-and-white character Mr. Rager (Keith David) who appears in contrast with the vibrant New York around him. It helps that Jabari and Meadow have their own unique take on the city, traveling from what buddy Jimmy calls a “one-percent” apartment to back alleys to elite parties to bicycle lanes.
