The production company behind iconic projects like Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Whale, and Apple TV+'s Causeway, is returning with yet another groundbreaking project. A24's Beef is a limited ten-episode series that follows two people after a seemingly-innocuous road rage incident. Their "beef" with each other, initially born from a small road rage incident, eventually threatens their everyday lives. The dark comedy series shows the two strangers-turned-enemies face off as their ongoing feud quickly gets out of hand. What began with road rage eventually veers in many different, unexpected directions, ultimately showing two people reaching a boiling point in their starkly contrasting lives.
Beef will join the small-but-growing television offerings from A24. The production is primarily known for its innovative, culturally resonant films that earned the studio a record-breaking forty-nine Academy Award nominations to date. While A24's television projects are few, they are mighty. Many of their notable television productions (Euphoria, Ramy, John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch) were met with an overall positive critical reception and numerous accolades. Beef isn't just another large-scale collaboration with a streaming service. The limited series demonstrates renewed energy for the studio's television projects in the future, accompanying Dreaming Whilst Black, The Sympathizer, Crystal Lake, and The Idol on their upcoming schedule.
The show will premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 18, followed by release later on Netflix. Ahead of its debut, here's everything we know.
Beef: The Plot
A24 released an official synopsis of the upcoming series.
BEEF follows the aftermath of a road rage incident between two strangers. Danny Cho (Steven Yeun), a failing contractor with a chip on his shoulder, goes head-to-head with Amy Lau (Ali Wong), 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.
Danny Cho is already struggling to make ends meet as he lives below his means with his younger brother. Using his substandard contractor salary, Danny is slowly recovering from a series of poor financial choices. All of this financial and personal pressure bubbled to the surface when another driver — Amy Lau — flips him off in a parking lot. However, like Danny, there's more to the story. Amy Lau is a wealthy, self-made entrepreneur that juggles being a businesswoman, wife, and mother on top of her own personal struggles. In the words of series creator Lee Sing Jin, "Amy seems like someone who's been struggling with sort of existential dread for a much longer time [than Danny]." The two shouldered so much interpersonal conflict that when the time came, their anger, resentment, frustration, and energy fueled the feud.
Because the series is a dark comedy, it features more than just Amy and Danny at each other's throats. Beef includes elaborate schemes such as robbery, catfishing, blackmail, and more. Within these hilarious misdeeds is a unique demonstration of humanity. Lee Sung Jin, drawing inspiration from The Sopranos, created "characters that are both deplorable and redeemable." He strived to keep that balance so that for everything the audience would cringe at, they would see something vulnerable, redemptive, or even deserving of empathy. In doing so, Lee Sung Jin created characters that can both deliver a punchline and bring an audience to tears in the same performance.
Beef: The Cast & Crew
The series stars Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead, Minari), Ali Wong (Always Be My Maybe, Baby Cobra, Hard Knock Wife), David Choe, and Patti Yasutake (Star Trek). In addition to the leading cast, the recurring cast includes Joseph Lee (Searching), Young Mazino (Prodigal Son), Justin H. Min (After Yang, The Umbrella Academy), Mia Serafino (Smiley Face Killers), and breakout child star Remy Holt. Guest stars include Mario Bello (Coyote Ugly, A History of Violence) and Ashley Park (Emily in Paris).
Beef is created by Lee Sung Jin (Silicon Valley, Dave) and directed by Jake Schreier (Paper Towns) and Hikari (37 Seconds). Jin, Wong, and Yeun serve as executive producers.
Release Date
Beef will debut on Netflix on April 6.
Everything Else We Know
The inspiration for the series was born out of the real-life experience of creator Lee Sung Jin. In a 2023 Vanity Fair interview, he detailed the incident that inspired Beef. After experiencing a traffic mishap on a freeway, Lee Sung Jin followed the aggravating car.
"I wasn't in a particularly bad mood that day, but I sort of was like, 'You know what? That's not okay to do, and I'm going to follow you home.' There was just a lot that happened there that made me kind of pause and go, 'Oh, I'm so focused on my reality and my blinders and my subjective point of view of this incident.' I'm sure from his point of view, here I am in a very low BW and we're probably reflecting the same sort of projections onto one another."
Jimmy Howe, the vice president of drama development and original series for Netflix, applauded the upcoming series in a recent press statement.
“We are incredibly excited to collaborate with Lee Sung Jin and help bring this rich series to life along with the inimitable Steven Yeun and Ali Wong. Sung Jin has created a bold and at times outrageous world. It is an honest and powerful character study of two people who go about searching for connection in the unlikeliest of ways.”