Living With B

🚨 Spoiler Warning! 🚨
If you haven’t seen the entire Common Side Effects series and want to avoid spoilers, keep it moving!

Common Side Effects follows two former high school lab partners who stumble upon a mushroom that can heal almost anything—except the greed and interference of the DEA, big pharma, and shady international businessmen.

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★

Just like Creature Commandos, I was not expecting to love Common Side Effects as much as I did. Adult animation is usually not my go-to… but this show? It deserves the Emmy nomination and every other nomination it gets.

The animation, the writing, the soundtrack—it’s all phenomenal. It had me laughing, gasping, and completely hooked in a way I haven’t felt in a long time from an original story. It balances humor so well—it’s not all fun and games, but it never gets so serious that it loses its spark.

Every character was easy to root for—or at least empathize with. Marshal reminded me of people I know in real life who are all about helping others through alternative and natural medicine. Meanwhile, Frances feels like the people I know who are more focused on their own needs than the bigger picture.

I also have to shout out Copano and Harrington. Their dynamic felt so genuine — two people who can talk about literally anything without getting annoyed… until the job starts testing their loyalty to each other. That tension was chef’s kiss.

And the trips felt fantastical and in a way, real. Each one was its own surreal little slice of fantasy. Instead of dragons or magic, the fantasy here shows up as strange little creatures leading you through your trip and bleeding into the real world. The more Marshal takes of this life saving mushroom, the more the line between life and death blurred. Marshal’s ability to communicate from this in-between space was intriguing.

The commentary on Big Pharma and the forces behind the scenes pulling the wool over civilians’ eyes? That’s an unspoken truth I would’ve never expected an adult animation to articulate the way they did.

Final Verdict on Common Side Effects

I will keep recommending this to literally anyone who will listen. Genuinely, I think this is one of the best adult animations ever produced.

Read More Movie Reviews Here! Find Me Online: Letterboxd

Streaming NOW on HBO Max