On April 6, the comedy-drama series “Gryznia” with Steven Yeun and Eli Wong in the main roles was released on Netflix. We watched how they hated each other for 10 episodes, and we are ready to share our impressions of what we saw.

“I didn’t do anything, it just broke?”. Turn this superpower into your work

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“Gryznia” / Beef

Genre comedy drama
Directors Jake Schreier, Kiieka Miyazaki, Lee Sung-Jin
In roles Stephen En, Eli Wong, Maria Bello, Joseph Lee, Yang Mazino
Premiere Netflix
Graduation year 2023
Site IMDb

Tired of failing, contractor Danny Cho was about to leave the supermarket parking lot in his pick-up truck, but almost crashed into a white SUV. After getting a middle finger back from his driver, Danny decided to chase after the scoundrel and teach him some good manners.

However, the pursuit does not end in favor of the angry builder, so all he has to do is remember the car number of his offender. They find a fragile business woman, Amy Lau, busy making a big deal with a rich and arrogant blonde named Jordan.

Gradually, the conflict between the bewildered Amy and Danny will gain momentum and turn into a real war. In attempts to destroy the opponent’s life, the heroes will not even notice how their own will be destroyed.

The tireless company A24, after its triumph at the Oscars, continues to deliver somewhat strange, but high-quality content. “Gryznia” works as an entertainment and acute social project. Here, a comedy about two (actually more) fools is comfortably next door to a crime thriller and a full-fledged drama.

The plot perfectly demonstrates what a crazy world we live in and how it affects us and our behavior. Constant stress and negative moments that occur almost every day clearly do not contribute to kindness during unpleasant situations in life. And, unfortunately, there is nowhere to go from them.

The authors, in a grotesque, satirical manner, also show that it doesn’t matter how happy you are or how big your wallet is. Because problems and failures can happen to everyone, and this will definitely affect their actions. This, in fact, happens with local heroes who are literally obsessed with revenge on their enemy.

Despite the comedic and satirical potential, this project turns out to be much darker and more serious than it might seem at first glance.

The creators do not take anyone’s side, but are focused on revealing the characters of the main characters, their thoughts, experiences, motivation, etc.

Stephen En and Eli Wong did a great job in this regard. Their characters went far beyond the standard antagonism of good and evil in cinema. They are two equal (anti)heroes, endowed with a number of contradictory, including negative character traits that make them real, alive. Moreover, they are not so different, despite the social inequality.

All 10 episodes with a duration of 30-35 minutes can be watched in almost one sitting, although some moments seem superfluous, and the plot moves are questionable.

The dialogue between the two ravens is a kind of afterthought, and the flashbacks to the characters’ childhoods do not add drama, but only slow down the pace of the story.

Each episode is named after a quote from a writer (Sylvia Plath, Simone de Beauvoir, Kafka) and ends with an old-school hit (The Offspring, System of a Down, Hoobastank). It adds a certain style to the story, although when it comes to style, the main character’s white riding hood is out of the running.

Reviewers of English-language publications were not stingy with praise, very generous epithets for the series, but calling it a genius or a stunning language does not come back.

Before us is a strong, interesting and audience-worthy story, the instructiveness of which can come in handy if someone not very well-mannered cuts you off on the road.

Pros:
great performances by Steven Yeun and Eli Wong, a powerful conflict, well-defined characters, a large number of exciting scenes, a successful combination of funny and dark

Cons:
a large number of unnecessary scenes and characters, the predominance of the dramatic over the comedic (this can be a minus for far from everyone, so the point is conditional), the absence of characters who deserve one hundred percent empathy, sometimes something very strange happens on the screen

Conclusion:

If the creators had concentrated exclusively on the main conflict, the story would have been more dynamic and much more concise. But it was important for the authors to dive deeper into the story and show how the actions of the main characters will affect their environment. There are certain inconsistencies here, but they cannot spoil the overall impression