Nothing's the Same

Lokillo Florez tackles the collective exhaustion of the post-pandemic return to society by turning the awkwardness of the “new normal” into a high-energy variety show. Backed by a live band, he riffs on the universal absurdities of the early 2020s, like the clinical precision required to wash one’s hands and the clumsy choreography of elbow-bumping acquaintances. The show shifts from observational stand-up into a musical comedy showcase when Florez brings out his popular dreadlocked alter ego, Rastacuando, who delivers a set of satirical, slow-strummed songs and bizarre parables. Filmed inside an abandoned railway station in Bello, Antioquia, with a small, socially distanced live audience, the 2021 Netflix release marked a massive moment in Colombian comedy. Produced by the Medellín-based Imaginer Films, it was the first Colombian Netflix special made by a production company outside of Bogotá. The special capped off a highly successful year for Florez, who had just made his feature-film acting debut in Mi otra yo two months prior. The production trades the typical theater backdrop for an industrial, rustic warehouse aesthetic, using the unusual venue to reflect a world that had been turned entirely upside down.