Overcompensating review: Benito Skinners college comedy is a raunchy, thoughtful laugh riot

College is often touted as the time when you can figure out "who you really are." But what happens when you spend that time lying — to yourself, to your family, to your friends?

That's the crux of Prime Video and A24's Overcompensating, an excellent college comedy where everyone is lying or overdoing it in order to fit in.

What's Overcompensating about?

Benito Skinner, Wally Baram, and Holmes in "Overcompensating." Credit: Jackie Brown / Prime

Take Benny, played by series creator and internet comedian Benito Skinner. As a high school football star and homecoming king, Benny's pre-college years were defined by all-American popularity. But when he arrives at Yates University, he's realizing that he's gay — and that he's not quite ready to be open about that part of himself yet. Instead, he's taken under the wing of his sister Grace's (Mary Beth Barone) bro-y boyfriend Peter (Adam DiMarco), who ushers him into a fratty secret society whose members live and die by "no homo."

Is Benny doomed to remain in the box of heteronormative frat boy? Or will he take advantage of college in order to figure himself out?

Ironically, it's an attempt to maintain his facade of straightness that leads to the possibility of reinvention. Peter stresses that Benny has to have sex on the first night of college, otherwise he's DOA socially. Elsewhere on campus, shy outsider Carmen (Wally Baram) is feeling the pressure too, especially after her high school boyfriend broke things off. She and Benny find each other, and while their attempt at hooking up is disastrous to say the least, it's the start of a friendship where they can both be their authentic selves — even if they often present inauthentic fronts to the rest of Yates.

Overcompensating is a hilarious and poignant tale of college coming-of-age.

Benito Skinner and Wally Baram in "Overcompensating." Credit: Sabrina Lantos / Prime

There's always an extra layer of scrutiny on a project when it's led by a content creator making the jump from internet spaces to more "traditional" media like TV. How do the skills they've honed on the internet translate to other projects?

With Skinner and Overcompensating, that translation feels fairly seamless. If you're familiar with Skinner's online comedy sketches where he perfectly impersonates pop culture figures or comes up with hyper-specific characters, it'll come as no surprise that Overcompensating is a laugh riot. Pop culture zingers abound (naturally), as do heightened send-ups of campus life and frat culture. While not all of the gags are particularly new — like a film class full of men saying The Godfather is their favorite movie — it's the execution, often centered on Benny's social anxieties about fitting in, that keeps Overcompensating feeling fresh and funny.

Skinner has shown time and again that he can deliver hysterical narratives in just a few minutes, but with a half-hour comedy, he also proves he can nail longer-form laughs and character work. Look no further than the relationship between Benny and Carmen, which blossoms into a sweet, grounded friendship.

A greater runtime also offers up more chances for drama. Benny and Carmen may be fast friends, but the social pressures of college often get to them and prompt them (mostly Benny) to hurt or lie to one another. Each betrayal, even if it's something seemingly as small as lying about evening plans, will have you screaming at your screen. The same goes for the many, many social faux pas that happen over the course of the series. The second-hand embarrassment is off the charts — often because we've all been in similar situations.

All these embarrassing blunders boil down to one truth: Benny, Carmen, and frankly everyone around them are messes. They're flawed, selfish young adults coming into their own, trying to model themselves on blueprints that they think are right, but that really do them no favors. That's a core part of the college experience. For every moment of self-discovery, there are mistakes. Overcompensating relishes in these errors, allowing all its characters to screw up big time and live with the consequences — sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious, but always engrossing.

Overcompensating's cast is downright phenomenal.

Kyle MacLachlan, Benito Skinner, and Connie Britton in "Overcompensating." Credit: Courtesy of Prime

Guiding us through the ups and downs of college life are Skinner, Baram, and the rest of Overcompensating's terrific ensemble. Skinner and Baram's chemistry is wonderfully natural, and it's thrilling to watch Skinner play a level of vulnerability you don't usually see in his sketches. Baram is the perfect blend of awkward and charming, and she also gracefully shoulders the challenge of Carmen's sadder family backstory. Elements of that backstory could turn to cliché, but Baram handles them with just the right amount of heart to make them land.

They're joined by DiMarco and Barone as disaster couple Peter and Grace. Barone, a frequent collaborator of Skinner's, delivers deadpan perfection as Grace, while still making clear the emotional turmoil that lurks below the surface. She's repressed herself just as much as Benny, tamping down her friends and interests in order to stay with Peter. She's a cautionary tale for her brother, even as she delivers one sniping comment after another. Meanwhile, DiMarco brings sleaze galore to Peter, whose fratty nastiness covers up anxieties about class and mental health. See, everyone in Overcompensating is hiding something — although Peter's turn from frat star to possibly redeemable guy is among the show's most abrupt.

The core cast gets support from a sprawling ensemble, from Rish Shah as Benny's heartthrob crush Miles to Holmes as Carmen's loose cannon roommate Hailee. Casting is particularly savvy across the board, mixing TV legends like Kyle MacLachlan and Connie Britton with current It Girls like Kaia Gerber and Charli XCX, playing herself in an unhinged, unforgettable cameo. But that's just the start of Overcompensating's considerable slate of guest stars, all of whom are game to play in the often surreal world of Yates.

Overcompensating may emphasize its characters' struggles with identity, but that's not a struggle the show itself shares. Raunchy yet thoughtful, this is an immediately assured coming-of-age story bursting with laughs and comedic stars on the rise. Enroll early at Yates and experience it for yourself.

Overcompensating is now streaming on Prime Video.