Netflix’s True Story brings out a different side to Kevin Hart, one that’s more likely to have you shudder in fear rather than roll on the floor in laughter. Hart plays a stand-up comedian/actor named The Kid, who wakes up after a night out to find the dead body of a woman lying next to him.
The death and subsequent scandal would ruin The Kid’s career, so he calls his older brother, Carlton, to help him dispose of the body. Unbeknownst to The Kid, the lady in his bed is not dead: She’s part of a scheme concocted by Carlton to swindle The Kid out of his millions.
True Story is not based on a true story, but it has some real-life elements
Don’t let the show’s title fool you: True Story is not based on a true story. However, it incorporates some real-life elements.
For instance, The Kid is a stand-up comedian from Philadelphia who’s made it big in the acting world. Kevin Hart is a stand-up comedian from Philly who’s tearing it up in the acting world. See the similarity.
The show’s creator, Eric Newman, told The New York Times that Hart wanted to ‘play a character who was similar to himself but who was driven to desperate measures by what he considered an existential threat.’
To The Kid – or indeed to someone like Kevin Hart – an existential threat is something that could take away your career; for example, the dead body of an overdosed lady found lying in your bed. “In the case of a celebrity, a famous person, if you take their career away, that is a fate worse than death,” said Newman.
Kevin agrees with Newman, stating that a celebrity needs to watch their every move. He told The New York Times:
“Doing the right thing, living life correctly, there’s a conscious effort behind it. And it’s work. Not to say it’s work in a bad way, but you’re working constantly to make sure that you’re doing things correctly, appropriately. You need a good team around you that’s OK with saying no.”
Eventually, The Kid discovers that Carlton masterminded the plan to steal his money and that the lady he woke up next to wasn’t actually dead. By then, however, he’s already committed murder and is in trouble with the mob.
To preserve his career and freedom, he kills the mobsters and finishes off his brother. As the series ends, we see The Kid as prosperous as ever as he speaks about people having to do what they need to do.