How to Get Ahead in Advertising

How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989) is a British satirical comedy laced with dark fantasy that you can watch online on iFILM. It comes from Bruce Robinson, who made the cult favorite Withnail and I, and it hands Richard E. Grant a role he attacks at full manic throttle.

Denis Bagley is a star at his ad agency until a crisis of conscience cracks him open. Handed a campaign for a pimple cream, he slowly loses his grip. Then a large, talking boil sprouts on his neck, smug and cynical and openly angling to take over where his head used to be. No one else can see the growth, so Denis ends up at war with a second self that embodies every greasy instinct of his trade.

Robinson turns an absurd premise into a furious takedown of consumer culture and an industry built on selling people things they never needed. Grant carries nearly the whole film, swinging between farce and real desperation. A treat for anyone who loves strange, fast-talking British humor and satire pushed to the edge of madness. Stream How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989) online on iFILM.