Have you ever had road rage? If so, Netflix’s New dark comedy-drama “Beef” will make you think twice before honking at the car that cut you off. Written by Korean director Lee Sung Jin and produced by A24 “Beef” stars Ali Wong who plays Amy Lau a young successful businesswoman and Steven Yeun who plays Danny Cho a blue-collar struggling contractor. The two characters kick off the show with a massive road rage incident that sets the scene for the rest of the show. Through the two characters “Beef”, the show dives head first in the opening scene into what overwhelming rage can do to you, your personal life, and your loved ones.
The show is able to create an amazing dynamic between the two main characters. Cho’s life in the show sheds light on the struggles of lower-class citizens and the battle of doing anything just to have the money to make it to the next day. Whether it’s signing himself up for landscaping jobs he is not qualified for, impulsively dumping money into crypto hoping to get rich, or stealing money from family members in person. Cho has been in a constant struggle but still finds a way to be optimistic about creating a better life for himself and his family.
While on the other hand, Lau has everything that Cho could dream of. She owns a successful business, has a mansion in the Hollywood Hills, a loving husband and daughter along with all the money in the world she could desire. But still has issues like being in the corporate ladder race of being a businesswoman, terrible management skills that leave her putting more time and effort into her business instead of her family along with a traumatizing childhood.
The phrase “Western therapy doesn’t work on Eastern minds” is mentioned a lot in the show through characters’ reflections on themselves and their outlandish actions throughout the series with each and every episode being an example of how that’s true. No matter what you expect to happen, the excellent writing by Jin puts the viewers through an emotional rollercoaster of joy, anger, and lust while making you question how you the viewer would react in the situation.
With the series being 10 episodes and each having a run time of about 30-40 minutes I highly recommend devoting a free weekend to binging the best Netflix original series in a long time. I give Netflix’s “Beef” a 5 out of 5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
