Life just comes apart at the seams, sometimes, and DRTY DIANA is just what you need to remind you that you’re not alone. The web series centres on Nyaomi, a young woman who’s going through what we millennials like to describe as a lot. 

Storyline

Nyaomi is going through serious mid-twenties issues. She’s left her job, hasn’t found another one, and just can’t seem to get up the energy to deal with anything – not her friends, not her hookup, and definitely not the prospect of moving on. In fact, she’s so intent on not thinking about the future that she’s turned her home into a shrine to her glory days. Her walls are plastered with films and singers from her childhood. She rewatches her band’s old shows on YouTube and can’t let go of the things she wanted but never got. Somewhere through it all, there are moments of clarity and those moments feel both triumphant and crushing. Because, that’s what recognising your depression for what it is occasionally feels like.

Realism

DRTY DIANA presents a painful look at what the spiral of depression can do to you. Each episode explores a different topic. The beauty of this webshow is that it doesn’t present you with a character who’s clearly going anywhere (except down) and ask you to hold on through the storm so you can see the clear sky. It just shows you a woman. Going through it. That’s it, that’s the whole show. For those who’ve survived and are surviving depression, this show offers the kind of honest slice-of-life representation that I personally haven’t seen anywhere else. The fact that DRTY DIANA ended prematurely is only offset by the plus side that… I didn’t really want to see a resolution. Because life doesn’t often work that way, does it?

TAGG… Why should I watch this, tho?

Honestly… I don’t know. I first watched this show years ago when I was stuck in a serious pit and going through what’s been my worst period since. Nyaomi showed me that I really wasn’t the only person going through this. And also put a mirror up to me as the same time. Nyaomi has the perfect storm going on – unrealistic body expectations, friends with toxic positivity and friends who’re happy to just have someone to wallow with, a hope that outside change will spark inside change. And, of course, the dull, screaming inertia with which depression suffuses your body.

I’m not selling it well, but the ultimate takeaway is that DRTY DIANA helped me when I wasn’t even sure what I needed help with. And maybe it can help someone else.

Mood Rating: Watch this on a day you’re ready for your entertainment to challenge your reality. Or if you just want to watch some dark millennial stuff, man.