RICH VS BUFFET INFINITY

New reviewer Richard Gerlach discusses Buffet Infinity: A Movie That Will Have You Coming Back for Seconds, Thirds… and More.

Echoing the Canadian comedy classic SCTV, crosscutting between original, low-budget TV ads to tell the sinister tale of two restaurants battling it out in the fictional town of Westridge County.

Director: Simon Glassman

Writers: Allison Bench, Simon Glassman, Elisia Snyder

Starring: Kevin Singh, Ahmed Ahmed, Brandon Vanderwall

Buffet Infinity is an analog comedy/horror movie written and directed by Simon Glassman. The movie takes place in a fictional town near Alberta, Canada that one day has a sink hole open up. After the sink hole opens people begin seeing advertisements for a new buffet restaurant called Buffet Infinity. The deals are too good to be true, and there’s plenty of parking up front! The movie is told via commercials and news broadcasts as Buffet Infinity keeps on expanding its borders. However, the more it expands, the more people go missing. As we watch these commercials a narrative unfolds that deal with cosmic entities, a competition restaurant who has some special sauce, a lawyer who’s trying to stay on the entity’s good side, and a pawn shop that’s just trying to stay open.

This is a bizarre movie in a good way. The movie itself feels like late 00’s Adult Swim in the best way possible. It’s like Welcome To Night Vale meets Too Many Cooks meets Unedited Footage of a Bear. The movie takes on many different modes, but the main focus is being placed on society’s unsuitable appetite for consumption and a business needs to consume all until Buffet Infinity has taken over everything! But really, who can beat all you can eat for $6.99, it’s a steal!

The mystery of the movie is captivating, and all the ads that are shown have so many hidden details, it will make you scour the screen for easter eggs and hints. The movie’s humor carries the whole way through, and it honestly gave me some of the biggest laughs I’ve had all year. There’s a segment about a new burger, Buffet Infinity, that is advertising. Which ended up being one of the most hilarious things I’ve seen all year. There’s also moments of dread as you realize what this buffet is doing, and how it’s affecting the community. There’s a really effective segment where we get a series of commercials spliced into a news segment about a protest around the restaurant. But for me, the best segment was their Canada Day add, because who cares what birds think?

As a movie, the core theme being developed is about capitalism, and expansion. They’re about how businesses move in and exploit or gentrify a community until there’s nothing original left. The only thing that can remain is Buffet Infinity; but those all-beef tacos, yum! We see the effects of this buffet as it expands its territory and people go missing, pets go missing, children go missing, while the buffet keeps going strong!

Overall, Buffet Infinity is more of a comedy than a horror movie, but it has a really dark and bleak core message that resonates well with the times we live in.  It’s a daring and unique piece of cinema that I believe is worth checking out, only for how unique its premise is.  I’ve never seen anything quite like this and I’m not sure I will again. But what I do know is that since I watched it, I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s worth a rental or a stream if it’s available on a service you subscribe to. Right now, the movie is only available to rent for $4.99.

Richard Gerlach is a teacher, cinephile, bibliophile and all-around nerd. When he isn’t teaching ELA, he’s consuming massive amounts of media to give endless recommendations from books, to movies, to tv shows. He specializes in the weird and the dark. He hopes to see you there.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.