I won’t lie—it starts off a little…dumb. But hear me out! Dumb doesn’t have to be bad. Think Shaun of the Dead or How High. It has a classic comedy set up: two immature friends set out on a seemingly impossible quest and end up answering some existential question that they didn’t realize they needed to ask.

In the first few minutes I remember texting a friend wondering why I agreed to watch Raging Midlife. Then it quickly drew me in with its absurdist humor vibe and sketch comedy flair.

We’re first introduced to Alex and Mark as pre-teen wrestling fans. On an otherwise perfect day ringside, the two hilariously lose a coveted tank top thrown from their hero Raging Abraham Lincoln. Thirty years later, they have a chance to get that shirt back. That’s when the nonsense starts.

I grew up on Booker T and Jerry “The King” Lawler in the 90s. So watching Raging Midlife gave me flashbacks of sitting in the living room with my great grandparents watching the little TV that sat on top of the big TV.

If you love randomness, there’s a fun daydream sequence ten minutes in that reminds me of Aunty Donna’s Big Ol House Of Fun. And Eddie Griffin’s narration SENT ME! Although he is off screen for most of the film, he shows up halfway through the movie in the most ridiculous way possible.

As a bonus, the audience is introduced to Darielle Mason who gets an opportunity to act without carrying the weight of our entire race on her back. The character was well written and a nice departure from how non-Black people typically write Black characters. Black girls get to be love interests. Black girls get to play quirky romcom characters. Black girls can be considered beautiful with their natural hair. I think Frankey would give this at least four Frankey fists on the “Can They Write Black People?” series.