This review was made possible due to an advance copy of Beef provided to Popped by Netflix for review. Beef streams on Netflix from April 6th.
We’re all driven by rage. It’s what motivates us to be better or in some cases, worse. Anger can be the thing that keeps us going or what shatters a person’s perception of how you live your life. It’s an undeniable truth that we’re ashamed of but when we’re faced with the cause of our annoyances, we never hold back. Netflix’s Beef is a story of anger, rage, and how regrets in our lives will find a way of making themselves stick in our minds.
There’s Always Something
Beef follows two characters from vastly different corners of life. Danny (Steven Yeun) is a young man struggling to make ends meet while feeling like he deserves more from the life he leads. Amy (Ali Wong) is a wife, mother, and successful entrepreneur on the verge of a life-changing business deal. One day, the two become connected during a severe case of road rage. As Amy drives away from the incident and Danny becomes motivated to track her down, this single event begins to unravel their lives.
Beef is a dark comedy that balances the absurdity of its inciting incident alongside its moving dramatic elements. From the outside looking in, Beef is a simple premise that you wouldn’t expect to branch out across ten half-hour episodes. However, the central incident that begins this story only becomes a small part of the series as it delves deeper into its characters and themes. At the core of Beef is a tale of the destructive nature of anger, the regrets we carry, and how small grudges can take hold of us.
The Breaking Point
Danny is a young man who works as a contractor. He’s someone struggling to make ends meet and yet, he feels destined for greatness. When we see Danny for the first time, we see someone with a chip on his shoulder. As the world puts more pressure on him, he inevitably reaches a breaking point. However, Danny is not a character that you should look at with sympathy. Where Steven Yeun shines most is how he portrays someone whose cruelty acts as therapy to cope with the fact that he isn’t getting what he deserves. Danny is someone who sees himself in the stories he tells as the protagonist. A man who gets everything he wants and without any trouble. In reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth, and that scares and angers him deeply.
Danny’s narcissism and unstable nature at first glance feel at odds with Amy’s more controlled demeanor. However, as Ali Wong’s fantastic performance shows us, her calm composure is merely an act for the world to be entertained with. Amy and Danny at their core are hateful yet incredibly melancholic characters to watch unfold. Amy’s role in the conflict within Beef feels like a complete regression of everything she has built as a businesswoman with a loving family. Though she is someone who, unlike Danny, has it all, Amy feels like she’s failed at life. It’s a stunning example of how series creator Lee Sung Jin knows deep down that we’re all the same. We’re all seconds away from becoming animals and anger is what fuels us to commit our actions. We can have everything we want but we can’t take away the annoyances or regrets we face.
Devastatingly Human
What makes Beef engaging from the outset is the mastery in display thanks to the thoughtfully crafted writing. From the outset, the series creates an absurd world that feels profoundly human at its core. As Amy and Danny continue to escalate their feud, it opens the door for the series to explore how we confront our anger and what it means in the end. Anger is what fuels us in many of our actions and yet, it’s the one emotion that fails to give us any catharsis. Beef is a series with a lot to say and due to the sheer ambition from a writing perspective, it takes its time to develop itself. In the end, however, you’re rewarded with a thoughtful piece of television.
Danny and Amy begin as angry and bitter characters but as Beef dives deeper into how they think, we see two scared people. They’re scared of making wrong decisions, being alone, and the idea that life, as they know it now, can change. Sometimes it will change for the better but the unknowing nature of the future keeps them afraid. This connectivity in their insecurities unknowingly becomes the driving force of why Beef works as well as it does. It’s a series that balances their anger in life in both comedic and heartbreaking ways and while these contrasting tones could go wrong, the way Beef brings everything together, makes it look effortless. If you’re not laughing at the absurd directions the series takes, you’re engrossed in how devastatingly human the core story is from the outset.
‘Beef’ Review – Final Thoughts
Netflix’s Beef is a masterful dark comedy from Lee Sung Jin that engages you in a story of how we’re all ultimately inches away from becoming animals. We’re all scared of what life holds for us next and yet, there’s nothing we can do about it. As nihilistic as that sounds, Beef dives into this mindset in an incredibly nuanced way thanks to its strong writing and the reluctance to shy away from ambitious plot swings and absurdity. It’s a series that will linger in your head long after it ends and might make you think twice before you show off your road rage to the next driver you encounter.
Beef is now streaming on Netflix. Check out a trailer below:
