aDi (Ziad Abaza, who is also the film's co-writer) is a loud-mouthed guy who runs away by changing seats at restaurants. Despite being married to the patient Amira (Priya Blackburn) and fathering a lovely girl, Mia (Layla Hadi), Adi is seduced by the siren song of the vlog life and leaves his family to pursue his own. I spend all my time creating videos for my valuable channel. . His specialty seems to be feats of strength and endurance akin to the recently disgraced Mr. Beast, but he's probably cheating when the cameras are off.
One day, at a shisha bar with his best friend and mainstay Maz (Mim Sheikh), Addy meets Lee (Harry Reid, not to be confused with the former Democratic US senator), a fan who proposes a new challenge. Once they meet Lee and the circle of Muslim Sufi mystics he hangs out with, they will arrange to bury Adi and Maz in a field six feet underground, surviving on only a windpipe and small amounts of water each day. As the title suggests, this experience simulates a death experience and helps promote a deep spiritual awakening. After some hesitation, Addy decides to do it for a laugh and a chance to gain new subscribers, with little understanding of why he's doing it. Accompanied only by a small monkey figurine named Oji that Mia insists on taking with him, Addie begins to formally unravel underground, experiencing delusions while fantasizing that Oji is talking to him.
This kind of claustrophobic, almost one-man show obviously relies a lot on how engaging and ranged the lead performer is. Thankfully, Abaza is very good, suitably annoying and pretentious in the early scenes, but then affecting as his fragile ego begins to melt into the dirt. Note that it may have been a radio drama, as a good portion of it is very dark.
