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Promotional art for The Golden One
Cover image credit: via TMDB

The Golden One

Whitmer Thomas

HBO · 2020 · 63 min

An indie-rock concert about family trauma and Gulf Coast childhood.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Whitmer Thomas stands on stage at the Flora-Bama Lounge, a gulfside bar straddling the Florida-Alabama line, singing darkwave synth-pop songs about his late mother, a thwarted childhood kidnapping, and his absentee father. This hybrid hour belongs as much to indie-pop as it does to stand-up comedy. Co-directed by Thomas and his childhood friend Clay Tatum, the show is set in the exact venue where Thomas’s mother and her twin sister once performed in their rock band, SynTwister. The performance is interspersed with documentary footage of Thomas interviewing his family members back home, building a narrative that is both funny and heavy. Songs like “Hurts to Be Alive” and “Partied to Death” address grief and family addiction with a synth-heavy bounce. Produced by Bo Burnham and Chris Storer, this 2020 HBO special positioned Thomas as a vulnerable performer who finds humor in the lingering wreckage of childhood.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Childhood abduction thwarted by father

    Recalls being 'cool' as a kid because someone kidnapped him from his home, before his dad thwarted the kidnapping.

  2. 'Partied to Death'

    A coldwave synth-pop tune and singalong about how his mother partied herself to death from alcoholism.

  3. 'Dumb in Love'

    A pop-punk inspired song about wanting to fuck like he is not registered to vote.

  4. 'Eat You Out'

    A musical treatise on offering oral sex as a cover when unable to perform due to performance anxiety.

  5. 'The Golden One'

    Reflects on his mother's final words declaring him the golden one, noting the awkwardness of his older brother standing right there.

  6. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    Cover of Syn Twister's 'He's Hot' closer

    Performs a cover of his late mother's band's song to finish the performance.

How it plays

Tone
Painfully tender, raw, bittersweet, and irreverent.
On stage
Self-deprecating 'aging emo kid' balancing tender sincerity, emotional vulnerability, and absurd humor.
Pace
Alternates abruptly between standup jokes, driving pop-punk and coldwave songs, and documentary heart-to-hearts.
About
mother's death and legacy, alcoholism and addiction, childhood trauma and abduction, growing older and failure, dating and performance anxiety, family reconciliation

What the critics said

Widely acclaimed for its innovative, boundary-pushing hybrid of traditional standup, emotional documentary footage, and catchy synth-pop/emo music processing real grief.

In the room: Sold-out, engaged crowd in a beach bar venue participating in singalongs.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: a24films.com, allmovie.com, hbomax.com, thefader.com, decider.com, theringer.com, thecomicscomic.com, en.wikipedia.org, press.wbd.com.

Backstory

Filmed at the Gulf Coast venue where his late mother Jenny performed with her new wave band Syn Twister before dying of alcoholism, framing a personal journey through family trauma, childhood abduction, and estrangement.

Details

Released
Taped
2019, Flora-Bama Lounge, Pensacola
Runtime
63 min
Where
HBO
Director
Whitmer Thomas, Clay Tatum
Honors
100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Topics
After
Terminal Crew of Dudes (2026)

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