Intensity: 🩸🩸🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Directed/Written by Aimee Kuge
Mukbang
Pronunciation: /ˈmʌkˌbæŋ/ or /ˈmuːkˌbɑːŋ/
A type of online audiovisual broadcast in which a host eats large quantities of food while interacting with their audience. Originating in South Korea, the term combines the Korean words “meokneun” (eating) and “bangsong” (broadcast).
Cannibal Mukbang: The Players
- April Consalo [TV’s “Hider in My House” (2022)]: Ash, a mukbanger with very particular tastes.
- Nate Wise [Dimland (2021)]: Mark, the painfully shy young man who falls head over heels for the redheaded force of Nature, Ash.
- Clay von Carlowitz [My Bloody Banjo (2015)]: Maverick, Mark’s brash, asshole-ish older brother.
Cannibal Mukbang: The Breakdown
Synopsis
Mark, a lonely and cringingly shy young man, steps out to a convenience store for a late-night snack and runs into the girl of his dreams. Or was it the other way around?
Regardless, what follows is a compact horror/drama about toxic relationships, sexuality, and vigilante justice. And meat. Lots and lots of meat.
Production
Cannibal Mukbang may be a low-budget film, but that doesn’t stop it from serving up some deliciously stylish sets and props. From Ash’s bedroom to her living room pillow fort to Mark’s apartment and his successful brother’s home, the film moves from one visual feast to the next. It’s like a buffet for your eyeballs.
Editing in Cannibal Mukbang — which director Aimee Kuge also had a hand in — is particularly noteworthy. With interesting camera angles, shifts in perspective, and a beautifully entertaining mid-movie montage, the editing duo on this film did a spectacular job.
And let’s not forget about the special effects. When you order up a plate of Cannibal Mukbang, you get nothing but the goopiest, entrail-laden practical effects you can sink your teeth into. Also, a trigger warning for people who hate watching other people chew.
Cast and Story
April Consalo is most certainly the driving force of Cannibal Mukbang. She brings such a vibrant and often vicious flavor to Ash’s character that it’s easy to overlook some of the usual low-budget movie shortcomings. Here’s hoping Consalo comes back for a second helping of our favorite genre in the near future.
Easily playing off Consalo’s confidence, Nate Wise comes across as the polar opposite. His character’s awkwardness and painfully shy manner of speaking were almost too much at the beginning, but he grows on you. Mark’s sensitive demeanor is an acquired taste.
Story-wise, Cannibal Mukbang plays like a demented Lifetime drama. Ash and Mark’s relationship is definitely the main course with its own sense of toxic horror. While the gore, spree killing, and alternative protein choices come in like so many tasty side dishes that you can’t get enough of.
Summary
Cannibal Mukbang is a visual — and visceral — feast disguised as a gore-filled relationship drama. With its powerful lead performance, a steady hand on the directorial tiller, and skillful editing, Cannibal Mukbang has earned itself a seat at the table reserved for impressive debut features. Fingers crossed that Aimee Kuge will keep feeding us more of this genre goodness.
Cannibal Mukbang is available for streaming at all the usual places. It will also be available for Digital Download from 9th June and can be pre-ordered HERE.
Review by Robert Zilbauer.