Cannibal Mukbang (2023) Dir: Aimee Kuge
- Ridley Coote
- 18 minutes ago
- 2 min read
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'Wait, is this play about us?' A shy filmbro falls for a manic pixie dream girl in this indie comedy horror directed by Aimee Kuge. This film belongs to the horror genre anyways, but I'm sure it is particularly prescient for people who have, in a way, experienced something like this, albeit without the cannibalism. I digress, I was quite excited to see this fun and violent-looking horror comedy - I had a feeling I'd enjoy it.
As I expected, the film was extremely goofy, effortlessly fun, and brilliantly goopy and gross. It had something of the old B-movies to it, which I really enjoyed. It had close-to the visual gore of the 'Terrifier' films, but with actual effort put into the narrative. The writing was janky and silly, especially in terms of the dialogue, but the themes discussed and the dynamics explored were very interesting. There was a real sense of romance and emotion to the writing that I enjoyed, even if it wasn't executed perfectly. The only aspect of the story that I didn't like was the ending, which felt extremely unsatisfying.
April Consalo was, for the most part, quite compelling, in the film's most memorable role. She technically wasn't the main character, but she was far better than the other actors in the film, despite a couple of slightly awkward and forced scenes. Her best moments came in the first half of the film, in which she was able to convey the character's more playful and innocent traits very naturally.
Nate Wise played an awkward and introverted character, who got sucked into a world he wasn't quite prepared for, but it was hard to take him at all seriously, because he played the part as if he was in an adult video from the noughties. He was far too awkward and forced, and hard to believe in any sense. He had a couple of better scenes, but these were few and far between. Equally, I was also not impressed by the overdone work of Clay Von Carlowitz, who might have a great name, but did not display any particularly great abilities in his supporting role.
Overall, this was very much a me kind of film. It was fun, it didn't take itself too seriously, it had key horror and romance elements, and it had a relatable set-up. It may have had its fair share if flaws, but from an enjoyment point of view, I think this was great. Critically speaking, it won't be many people's cup of tea, but horror fans - especially those who like low-budget, independent horror, will have a cracking time with this.
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