BEEF Season 1: When Lives Collide

Most people, at some point behind the wheel, have been caught in the thrall of road rage, or at the very least: the temptation of it. Only half of the situation is in your control when faced with someone else driving recklessly which can make you feel vulnerable and impulsive. In Beef, we see that exchange build to honking, high speeds, middle fingers, attempts of running each other off the road, and capturing a license plate to, well, eventual pandemonium.

From creator, showrunner, writer, and executive producer Lee Sung Jin, Beef is a dark, comical rumination on the collisions we face and the consequences of those actions. It’s unpredictable, uncomfortable, and entertaining as hell. It starts in a place that seems relatively harmless but it continuously grows from a tense lapse of judgment to a full-grown monster. And this beast has a heart.

Crafting the Beef

Danny (Steven Yeun) and Amy (Ali Wong) deliver stunning performances as our two leads stuck in a standoff. These are two angry, emotionally raw individuals, both with facades that they let slip one unexpected day in a fit of road rage.

Danny is a contractor wielding small scams with his criminal cousin Isaac (David Choe) and looking after his younger brother Paul (Young Mazino). His parents recently lost their motel, and since then he’s been struggling to make ends meet and find consistent work.

Amy is financially sound, and a self-made businesswoman, but she seems lost in her home life and what appears to be a pretty picture of forced smiles that cover her inner turmoil. Her artist husband George (Joseph Lee) and daughter June (Remy Holt) don’t seem to notice anything off, meanwhile, she deals with her overbearing mother-in-law Fumi (Patti Yasutake). Wong also has dealings with Maria Bello, in a snappy supporting role as Jordan Forster, a wealthy and arrogant art connoisseur who falls in the path of this vengeful tornado. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect as I started the series. The story starts off at a seemingly simple place, right? Two strangers are involved in a road rage incident and from there become intertwined in each other’s lives in dangerous and destructive ways. How does one take an idea like this and make it into a fully formed and compelling narrative? With very carefully planned chaos.

This incident leads to an implosion for both parties, bringing out their insecurities and making each other’s downfall their personal mission. They are both prideful, and both more similar than they’d like to admit.  Beef is apt at capturing displays of vengeful behavior matched by each of our leads that extend to their families and businesses. 

Over the course of the ten brisk-moving episodes, we see the lives of each of these two go through variations of unease. They continuously exhibit careless behavior, pushing them to the brink. The show is created with a keen level of finesse, from the writing to the cinematography to the excellent soundtrack (so many perfect needle drops). Even the opening packs a punch, with changing artwork and music that matches the vigor of the series.

The dialogue and jokes are written so well, each with a witty resonance that hits. Both Wong and Yeun give some of their best performances to date, drawing deeply emotional moments out of scenes that otherwise live in bewildering circumstances. Young Mazin is also fantastic, proving an equal match to Wong and Yeun. The tonal shifts in Beef keep you on your toes and deliver a refreshing entry from this joint Netflix and A24 venture. 

The lengths that Beef goes to deliver a level of shocking unpredictability that teeters between incredulous and bold. It’s a black comedy that’ll hit you emotionally when you let your guard down, before then pummeling you with intensity. It lives in a heightened plane where we see someone reach this place of rage and then step backward from there. How did they each get here? Then we see them reach it again, and again. Each time becoming more unhinged from nearly childish sorts of behavior to potentially fatal ones.

These characters live in a tightly wound heated space that makes their stories riveting. The acting is truly stellar which makes the characters who seem unlikable on paper emerge empathetic. Even when you find yourself yelling at the screen, you’re glued to the aftermath. 

A Sense of Terror

The series has a foreboding sense of terror that seizes you early on. Rather than a one-hit encounter, Beef is like a head-on car crash in slow motion. We know things are going to continue to get worse and eventually, explode. And oh, do they.

Part comedy and part drama, this show definitely does not shy away from the absurd moments of levity or the brash moments of internal suffering. Throughout the tidal wave of emotions lies a melancholy that permeates vividly through excellent direction and acting.

Occasionally, Beef spins its wheels in its own pit of mayhem, but it finds its way out. A lot of this is contributed to the performances, which I can’t compliment enough. Their obsession off-screen and sizzling chemistry when together, seethes and makes it impossible to deny.  While ludicrous at times it somehow manages to always reign us back in. It’s a unique observation and character study that hasn’t been seen on TV. These flawed individuals are cast in both a comedy and a tragedy: a concoction that makes Beef a true stand out.

Conclusion

One of the best shows of 2023 so far, Beef is an impeccably cast, riotous effort that disarms and discomforts in equal measure.

Beef premiered at SXSW 2023 and will begin streaming on Netflix on April 6th. 

https://youtu.be/AFPIMHBzGDs

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