REVIEW - Beef (2023)

If you are looking for a clever little miniseries to watch, Netflix’s ‘Beef’ is perfect with its emotion, comedy, and slightly dark edge.

It follows Amy Lau (Ail Wong) and Danny Cho (Steven Yeun) after their encounter during a road rage incident, with both of them leaving the experience very angry. Seemingly unable to let it go, they become intertwined within each other’s lives and, as you can probably imagine, not in the best way.

I immediately saw the name of this show and thought, as a veggie, it wouldn’t be for me. I could not have been more wrong. The strange name actually sums up the show very well, as the slang definition of ‘Beef’ means aggression or holding a grudge - two very prominent themes throughout this show.

Korean director, Lee Sung Jin, explained that his own road rage experience as he unintentionally followed his aggravator inspired the show. As a director, he manages, through each thirty-minute episode, to paint a chaotic story in a seamless way and provide an ending that satisfies the viewer. I won’t say that the end of the film was what I would have hoped for but do not let this put you off, as the rest of the episodes make up for it.

Though it is slightly cliché, a criticism of Beef is the limited number of episodes, as I was absolutely left craving more. Also, the 18-age rating is absolutely justified with some sex scenes and an array of gruesome parts, which won’t be for everyone and makes this show entirely family inappropriate.

I think the subtle nod to some Asian cultural references is interesting in the show, for example, the use of crows signalling bad omens in Korean culture. The cultural referencing was something I had to look up as symbolism plays a large part in this series, especially with the constant dark energy throughout. I was impressed with the involvement of the church, religion and other topics like suicide and mental health.

A special mention is deserved for Paul (Young Mazino), though he is a more secondary character as he is Danny’s brother as is a very likeable character in the show. You can’t help but fall in love with his character. It is so interesting to see him develop during the events of the series.

With 98% on rotten tomatoes and sitting in the top 10 series on Netflix, it isn’t one to miss. Also, if you end up watching Beef and love it, the Netflix series ‘Dead to Me’ has a very similar vibe as a comedy with a dark undertone, which I also highly recommend!

Edited By Jemma Snowdon