A mind-jangling and perhaps brilliant experiment in low-budget filmmaking
Buffet Infinity | Review | Hope Madden
Buffet Infinity is the kind of film that makes you question your own survival instincts. If you can sit through the first ten minutes of simulated Nineties channel surfing without reaching for the remote, you might just have what it takes to survive whatever cosmic capitalistic catastrophe swallowed Westridge County. Simon Glassman’s very Canadian sci-fi horror comedy hybrid is clever, bananas and perhaps brilliant, though it takes a while to realise you’re not waiting for the film to start – you’re already in it.
This is a movie built from regional TV ads. Law offices, used car lots, diet pills and a spectacularly unhinged grudge match between neighbouring restaurants. It plays like a fever dream you had after falling asleep in front of the telly, and its commitment to the bit is frankly terrifying. Glassman and his co-writers have crafted something that feels less like narrative cinema and more like an artefact from a dying civilisation, one that sold its soul to jingles and local celebrity car salesmen.
Whatever happened in Westridge County, Canada, the day that sinkhole appeared behind the mall, you probably wouldn’t have survived it either. But at least you’d have seen some great commercials first.
Buffet Infinity is clever, bananas and perhaps brilliant. Its execution mimics the experience of channel surfing in the Nineties with all the regional news and commercials, and the results are mind-jangling. Glassman’s instincts for presentation are on point, and the film nails its style with a relentless, twisted familiarity that somehow sustains itself for ninety-three minutes.
Buffet Infinity: Simon Glassman‘s Canadian Sci-Fi Horror Comedy
At about the 5-minute mark, I’d begun to worry about Buffet Infinity, co-writer/director Simon Glassman’s very Canadian sci-fi/horror/comedy hybrid. So far, we’d done nothing but flip through various low-fi, low-budget, very local Canadian TV ads. For five minutes.
That seemed like a long time for a prelude to a narrative. By 10 minutes, panic settled in as I realized the flipping from a few seconds of this law office ad to a few seconds of that used car commercial to a few seconds of this buffet advert would compose the entire film.
About one minute later I’d submitted to the mind-jangling force of Buffet Infinity. Which almost certainly means I would not have survived whatever it is that happened in Westridge County, Canada the day the sink hole appeared behind that mall.
Glassman’s premise, built from a script co-written with Allison Bench and Elisia Snyder, is clever, but its execution is bananas and perhaps brilliant.
The film mimics the experience of channel surfing in the Nineties with all the regional news and commercials. Did your small town have a car salesman who took on a superhero alter ego? Or a badly dressed ambulance chaser promising you a big payout for your negligence lawsuit? These are joined by a delightful pawn shop, an untested diet pill, a hilariously lip-synched series of insurance commercials, one low-rent L. Ron Hubbard (every ad is hilarious), and a nasty grudge match between neighboring restaurants.
Edited masterfully and performed atrociously (intentionally and enjoyably), and aided by a handful of quick news bits, the clips tell the tale of a town fighting to survive some cosmic capitalistic catastrophe.
Glassman’s instincts for presentation are on point. Whether it’s the crawl on the screen, the news channel jingles, the insane verbal descriptions attached to the buffet commercials, or just the relentless and twisted familiarity of each ad, Buffet Infinity nails its style.
I wouldn’t call it style over substance because that feels like a knock against the narrative being unveiled with each changing commercial. Still, certainly the presentation and its unlikely durability (93 minutes!) make style the more impressive of the two.
Buffet Infinity is a wild watch, and though—given its channel hopping style—it seems ideal for Shudder, don’t let the home viewing let you get distracted. Glassman repays you for your attention.
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