Ricky Gervais: Mortality (2025)

Score: 5 / 10
Category: Stand-up Special
Platform: Netflix

One-line verdict

Still funny in parts, but feels like a familiar set delivered with less bite and fewer standout moments.

What worked

• Ricky Gervais is still sharp and confident on stage. The delivery is professional and controlled.
• His usual trademarks are all here: crude remarks, jokes about wealth, and graphic sex humour. None of it feels lazy or half-assed.
• Even when the material didn’t hit as hard, it was rarely unfunny. There are still laughs throughout.

What broke

• The material doesn’t feel as impactful as his earlier specials. A lot of it feels familiar, like variations on ideas he’s already explored better before.
• One segment about his Golden Globe experience felt surprising in a bad way. It came across as recycled and made the set feel thinner than it should be.
• At times, it feels like he’s short on fresh angles rather than deliberately refining old ones.

What others are saying

• Reviews are mixed, especially when compared to his previous Netflix specials.
• Many fans still enjoy the trademark Gervais style, but critics note that the material feels less sharp and less memorable than before.
• There’s a general sense that this is a step down from his strongest work, even if it’s far from a disaster.

Why this didn’t work for me

I’m a big fan of Ricky Gervais, and I went into this wanting to like it more. His past specials set a high bar, and this one simply doesn’t reach it.

The jokes aren’t bad, and they’re not lazy. They just don’t land with the same impact. I’ve seen most of this territory covered before, and while it’s still funny, it doesn’t feel essential or particularly sharp.

I almost gave this a 6 out of loyalty, but that wouldn’t be honest. This isn’t an 8 like his earlier work, and it doesn’t feel strong enough to clear a 6. A 5 feels right. Watchable, occasionally funny, but a noticeable drop in quality.