If you’ve seen classic Adult Swim videos like Too Many Cooks or Unedited Footage of a Bear and wondered what they’d be like as a feature film, then look no further than Buffet Infinity, which I can only describe as Adult Swim meets Welcome to Nightvale. If you’re familiar with those videos, you’ll know a huge part of their appeal is the surprising turns and the same is true here, so I’ll be as vague as I can at this point.
In brief, it is a hilarious and slowly unnerving film that inventively uses fake adverts to tell its story of an insidious takeover of a local shopping centre by a mysterious organisation known as Buffet Infinity. It’s a smart parody with a relevant message about the horror of conglomerations insidiously ruining society that I can imagine developing a passionate audience over time.
Before I go further into the film itself, I also feel that I need to address a statement that appears in the credits: ‘There are 8 images in this films production that use Artificial Intelligence. They are shown for satirical purposes only.’ This will undoubtedly divide people and in this instance, I do understand the film-makers’ reasoning as the film clearly addresses how easy it is to confuse AI generated images with reality and commenting on how it is used to exploit and manipulate people. Whether it was worth contributing to the ecological damage that we know AI usage generates in order to make this point is up for contention, but I thought it was worth highlighting so that audience members have that knowledge beforehand.
All that said, the film is a joy to watch and an incredible display of creativity. The format risks getting repetitive as we are shown a wearying deluge of ads, but each ad is distinctive with their own unique humour. Without wanting to just spoil all the best jokes, the lo-fi aesthetics of Ahmed’s Pawnship and a legal attorney who opens his ad with ‘I know pain’ were ones that particularly tickled me. The film bombards you with jokes, through dialogue, performance and visuals, but the film smartly builds little narratives for each store-owner through each successive ad. The deliberately crappy lo-fi aesthetics make these characters even more endearing, even as we are laughing at how ridiculous they are.
Adult Swim meets Welcome to Nightvale
The earnestness of these local business owners is contrasted with the ads from the titular Buffet Infinity. While these are also very funny – one advertising their new burger easily being the funniest section of the entire film – the heavy use of stock images and stilted voice-over give an immediately uncanny quality even before it explains how you can ‘leave without seeing a single member of staff’ and warning us to ‘stop worrying about where birds are going.’ As the company gets bigger reach by taking over some of the local businesses we’ve been introduced to, Buffet Infinity’s advertising starts to take on their advertising too in a smart combination of form and story. While I have been unable to determine at time of writing if this is where AI is used, these new ads clearly parody the regurgitative nature of the technology, as it tries to form its own identity by stealing everyone else’s.
And this is where the horror comes in, because while ostensibly a comedy, Buffet Infinity also has some truly unnerving sequences. The menacing sinkhole that appears by the shopping centre that forms the centre of Buffet Infinity’s plan is metaphorical as well as literal. Buffet Infinity attracts its customers like a fly trap, swallowing them into the franchise, but we also see horrible consequences for those who try to resist. Director and writer Simon Glassman confidently executes the film’s swing into cosmic and body horror, the latter being particularly impactful with sparing use of gruey practical effects.
The ambitiousness of the form complements the simplicity of the film’s story of a community being infiltrated by a corruptive force. All the performers understand the strange absurd tone necessary – playing bad actors can become quickly unfunny and dull, but the cast handle themselves well with their outlandish characters, including one who is a mix of L Ron Hubbard and Garth Marenghi, that still feel very down-to-earth and sympathetic. Their commitment to such a ridiculous tone is a testament to how much work has gone into Buffet Infinity. It is easily one of the most original films I’ve seen this year, effectively satirising the capitalist hell-scape we live in with absurd humour and great attention to detail that I hope gets the audience it deserves.
BULLET INFINITY HAD ITS WORLD PREMIERE AT FANTASIA FESTIVAL 2025
