Though I promised myself not to attend TV & Series shows at SxSW 2023, I had an opening in my schedule and was already downtown and decided to line-up for the Netflix show BEEF starring Steven Yeun from MINARI. It was an extremely well attended premiere with all of the actors and creators in attendance.
About: “Beef” follows the aftermath of a road rage incident between two strangers. Danny Cho, a failing contractor with a chip on his shoulder, goes head-to-head with Amy Lau, a self-made entrepreneur with a picturesque life. The increasing stakes of their feud unravel their lives and relationships in this darkly comedic and deeply moving series. In partnership with A24, the series will debut on Netflix this Spring.
JASON’S REACTION: It isn’t every day that I see a new TV series that not only opens with a run-in between two strangers but a major car chase that follows right behind it. Another entry into the TV series at SxSW Film & TV, I quite liked this revenge story where both characters believe they have their reasoning to get back at each other after a road rage incident but we also get to see their conflicted backgrounds. Steven Yeun and Ali Wong have been to SxSW in the past with a few respective shows and Wong was also in attendance the previous night with the not-as-great comedy JOY RIDE. Here she is at the top of her game and Yuen also made me want to do a rewatch of MINARI.
SxSW aired the first two episodes as part of a ten episode first season with both episodes running about 40 minutes each. Netflix will release this series in April and I look forward to seeing how this all plays out.
This film and many others like it showed at South By Southwest this year from March 10-19. For more information on this and other titles, point your browser to www.sxsw.com!