Beef (TV series)

Beef (TV series)
Beef is a 2023 American comedy-drama television limited series created by Korean director Lee Sung Jin for Netflix. It stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as Danny Cho and Amy Lau, two strangers whose involvement in a road rage incident escalates into a prolonged feud. Appearing in supporting roles are Joseph Lee, Young Mazino, David Choe, and Patti Yasutake.
The ten-episode series was released on Netflix on April 6, 2023, to acclaim from critics who praised Yeun's and Wong's performances, as well as the writing and directing. At the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, it received 13 nominations including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series and acting nods for Yeun, Wong, Lee, Mazino and Maria Bello.
Cast and characters
Main
Steven Yeun as Danny Cho, a struggling contractor who is involved in a road rage incident
Ali Wong as Amy Lau, a small business owner and the other party in the road rage incident
Joseph Lee as George Nakai, a sculptor and Amy's stay-at-home husband
Young Mazino as Paul Cho, Danny's unmotivated younger brother
David Choe as Isaac Cho, Danny and Paul's cousin, recently released from prison
Patti Yasutake as Fumi Nakai, George's mother
Recurring
Maria Bello as Jordan Forster, the wealthy owner of a home improvement chain store
Ashley Park as Naomi, Jordan's sister-in-law and later fiancée, and Amy's neighbor
Mia Serafino as Mia, Amy's assistant
Remy Holt as June, Amy and George's young daughter
Justin H. Min as Edwin, a praise leader in a Korean church
Alyssa Gihee Kim as Veronica, Danny's ex-girlfriend and Edwin's wife
Andie Ju as Esther, a friend of Edwin and Veronica
Andrew Santino as Michael, an associate of Isaac
Rek Lee as Bobby, another associate of Isaac
Guest
Hong Dao as Hanh Trinh Lau, Amy's mother who is a Vietnamese immigrant
Kelvin Han Yee as Bruce Lau, Amy's father who is a Chinese-American man who was raised in the Midwest
Ione Skye as Mysterious Woman
Episodes
Production
The project, created by Korean director Lee Sung Jin and set to star Steven Yeun and Ali Wong was first announced in March 2021, with a bidding war happening over the series rights. Netflix would eventually win the rights. In December, Lee Isaac Chung was reported to be directing the pilot episode. In March 2022, additional castings were announced, including David Choe and Patti Yasutake, and the pilot episode would instead be directed by Japanese director Hikari. She was also confirmed to direct several additional episodes.
Filming had begun by April 2022.
Lee Sung Jin has planned the show to last three seasons: “There are a lot of ideas on my end to keep this story going. I think should we be blessed with a Season Two, there’s a lot of ways for Danny and Amy to continue. I have one really big general idea that I can’t really say yet, but I have three seasons mapped out in my head currently.”
Music
Release
Beef premiered at the 2023 SXSW Festival on March 18, 2023. It premiered on Netflix on April 6, 2023.
Reception
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 86 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave Beef 3.5 out of 4 stars. In his review of the show, he noted that the general mood of the country, which is characterized by anxiety, frustration, and anger, was effectively used to create a "tonally daring" show that vacillates between comedy, drama, and thriller. Tallerico praised the show for its well-structured plotting and lauded the performances of Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, calling them the best he has seen that year, and applauds their ability to make their characters relatable and grounded. However, Tallerico also noted that the show's penultimate episode became "a little hard-to-swallow" and took away some significant decisions from the characters, which detracted from the thematically rich narrative.
In her review for Variety, Alison Herman praised Beef for the excellent chemistry between Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, as well as for their performances. She noted that the show starts grounded in emotional concerns but spirals ever further out into surrealism and caricatures, sometimes distracting from the show's "core insights". In a review for NPR, Linda Holmes explained that the show is interested in big questions about meaning and purpose in life and "tackles them with inventiveness and deep empathy". She praised the show's stunning, surprising, and empathetic portrayal of the muddled humanity of its very messy characters and its ability to blend humor with deep existential questions. Herman also praised the performances, especially Steven Yeun's, and the show's production design.
Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the series a grade of B and stated that it does a fine job balancing the protagonists' practical intelligence and impractical passions. He added that the series is designed to evoke empathy for each combatant while exploring their shared humanity and collective hardships, and it delves into their demons while drawing parallels between the two leads. He noted that despite some of the plot twists feeling forced, Wong and Yeun "shine throughout". Ellen E. Jones of The Guardian gave the show 4 out of 5 stars and described it at as a "dark, existential thriller" and a "delicacy worth savouring". She noted that the show's "extremely funny" dialogue and chaos highlighted the quality of its leads.
In his review for The New York Times, television critic James Poniewozik described Beef as a "thrilling dark comedy" that "delves into the intricacies of anger via a road-rage feud between two drivers who share more in common than meets the eye". He praised the show's attention to the motivations that led to the conflict and the personal and cultural specificity of its study of anger. Poniewozik also noted that the show's Asian cast was both a casual fact of the setting and integral to its themes. In a review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper described Beef as "bold, darkly funny, emotionally bruising, provocative and wicked-smart social satire". He commended the ensemble cast for their exceptional performances, particularly Ali Wong and Steven Yeun. Comparing the show to "Falling Down and Changing Lanes with a touch of The White Lotus", Roeper claimed that it was the best series he had seen all year.
Accolades
References
External links
2020s American black comedy television series
2020s American comedy-drama television series
2020s American drama television miniseries
2023 American television series debuts
Asian-American television
English-language Netflix original programming
Fictional rivalries
Television series by A24
Television shows set in Los Angeles
Television shows about Korean Americans