So Season 2 of the Netflix series Beef has dropped and is quite good. Think of it as The White Lotus meets Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite (2019). It’s about a quartet of grifters using whatever nefarious arrows in their quiver to get ahead, the main one being an iphone snippet of a middle-aged couple’s old-fashioned “domestic dispute” (in the husband’s “man cave,” no less) caught on video by a much-younger couple.
Although everything is not what it seems is undoubtedly a movie cliché, it works to great effect in this season’s storyline. The most captivating character is Ashley Miller, played by Cailee Spaeny, who possesses the sweetest smile and the darkest heart. At first she genuinely seems to care about her boyfriend and the abused wife she videos, but one surprise after another makes you rethink exactly how much Ashley cares about any people other than herself. (Spaeny reminds me of the great Sixties/Seventies actress Sandy Dennis, in a good way.)
Second most captivating character must be the always terrific actor Oscar Isaac, who plays Josh Martin, the manager of a high-end California resort. He’s ambitious, mercurial, and at times seriously deranged. Carey Mulligan plays his wife, Lindsay, who puts up with his shenanigans . . . until she doesn’t. As usual, I’ll refrain from giving it all away. Like Season One of Beef there’s a Korean-American plotline that’s important, but not the sole focus, as opposed to the first season. One thing I admire from series creator Lee Sung Jin: Things happen very quickly. It’s not as frantic as the Oscar-darling Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) but dramatic events unfold, spurt, bounceback, and recoil with a fast, deft touch. It features eight episodes, all of which have major plot twists and developments. I was hooked and binge-watched it.
