BEEF is a new Netflix series with 10 half-hour episodes and it is extremely binge-worthy. Ali Wong and Steven Yeun star in this revenge story that begins as simple road rage and evolves into all kinds of craziness. The way it escalates is both extremely wild and eerily believable in an organic and natural way.
Also, the supporting cast is simply brilliant. While many characters might seem a bit over the top, they’re easily strangely familiar. That’s when dark comedy is done right; Taken to the edge, but never really crossing it. There are ten episodes in the series and I’ve watched them all for this review. I simply could not stop!
On paper, Beef might seem like a simple dark comedy. Or a drama and comedy hybrid. And it absolutely is. However, it’s also very much a revenge story and those are right up our alley here at Heaven of Horror. We cover horror, thriller, sci-fi, and true crime. Beef definitely has elements of both horror and thriller at times, but even feels dangerously like true crime.
I mean, it begins with road rage which is a very real thing. Something far too many people experience. Either as those who get angry or as someone who has witnessed it firsthand. Whether as a spectator or the target.
In this Netflix series, the 30-minute-long episodes help to make it all feel very fast-paced and urgent. There’s a constant rush to keep moving. Both in terms of the revenge story and life in general. Everyone is in a hurry and most people also tell you to relax and calm down. Two things that can’t really co-exist and which then results in crazy stress for many.
The fact that the episodes in Beef will begin exactly where the previous one left off, helps keep this intensity ongoing. Well, except sometimes when there’s a time jump of some sort. Also, it does play with the audience by doing things you would not expect. Not out of character and irrelevant to the story. Just another crazy layer to both!
One example is including a scene that feels straight out of Everything Everywhere All at Once. As an obvious tribute, of course.
I’ve adored Steven Yeun from the time he was on The Walking Dead. On to him making all sorts of movies from the Netflix movie Okja (2017) and Jordan Peele’s Nope (2022) to Burning (2018) and Minari (2021) where he speaks Korean quite a lot.
And still, I don’t think I’ve seen him this good and versatile. Though he was, of course, brilliant in his Oscar-nominated Minari role. One minute, you feel for him. The next he exasperates you as you roll your eyes thinking “Idiot!”. Well, not Steven Yeun himself, obviously, but rather his character, Danny Cho.
This new revenge series on Netflix was created by Lee Sung Jin. He previously worked on series such as Dave and Silicon Valley which both earned him some award nominations for writing. He did also co-write the made-for-TV horror movie Mothman so the darker side of storytelling is also familiar to this writer.
Lee Sung Jin also directs an episode himself while other directors include Hikari (HBO Max series Tokyo Vice) and Jake Schreier (Brand New Cherry Flavor).
In Beef, we also see brilliant portrayals of quirky and stereotypical supporting characters. Most of them focus either on “keeping up an appearance” to get rich fast or they no longer have to because they’re crazy rich already.
In these roles, we see actors such as Maria Bello (Lights Out), Joseph Lee (Searching), Ashley Park (Emily in Paris), Young Mazino, Justin H. Min (The Umbrella Academy), and Patti Yasutake. To name just a few!
I really don’t want to spoil the events in Beef, and the trailer doesn’t reveal nearly as much as I feared it had. Still, I feel it has to be said that episode 9 is wild (and that alone is enough reason it belongs on this website) while episode 10 offers one of the best finale episodes, I’ve watched in a long time. One hell of a rollercoaster. And I’d gladly take the ride again!
Beef is on Netflix with all ten episodes from April 6, 2023.
