Buffet Infinity (Simon Glassman, 2026)

One of the more rare experiences for those of us obsessed with storytelling, and maybe with on screen storytelling more than any other variety, is to be confronted with something genuinely new and different. There are some good reasons for this. Movies and television, and the audiences for them, have developed a language over the course of their existence. Sticking with that language helps insure the audience is going to understand the story, the themes, the ideas and so on. Commercial filmmaking relies on that language. Once in a great while, someone sneaks through with a movie that finds commercial distribution and appeal, that eschews that language.

In 2022, Skinamarink was one of those films. It was picked up for nationwide distribution, developed some buzz and was financially profitable, in part because and in spite of it being an experimental film, by nature and from inception. The reaction among both critics and fans was polarized. Sitting in the theater watching it, I personally came up against the limits of my tolerance for experimental film, and that isn't Skinamarink or the fault of Kyle Edward Ball, who conceived and directed it. It was instructive, honestly. I do enjoy experimentation, within narrative film. I'm there for the storytelling. There is nothing wrong with designing a film solely and specifically as an experience, without much or any story, I'm glad they exist, but it's not something I'm going to seek out with any regularity. Skinarmarink bored me terribly, but I'm glad I saw it because it did drive home that my interest in film is in its utility as a storytelling medium.

Buffet Infinity is a film that splits the difference, in its odd, strange way. It has a narrative, a story that has interesting ideas and comes from a recognizable sub genre of horror, but it throws the conventional language of storytelling in movies out the window. In place of that conventional language, it asks the question, "How can a story be told through the form of local television?"

The effect is one of sitting and flipping channels, to nothing but scraps of local commercials for small businesses, events and snippets of newscasts. The story unfolds through these and their evolution over the films hour and thirty-three minute run time, as events in the unnamed city they are located in begin filtering into all of these. It is that incredibly rare example of a genuinely unique experience in narrative storytelling in movies.

I know nothing at all about Simon Glassman, but it would not shock me in any way to find out he had some experience in local television. The faux commercials and news clips capture the feeling of the real thing extremely well. Glassman also has a strong grasp on the interplay between comedy and horror with the absurd as the fulcrum at the foundation of the lever that switches between them. There are some very funny bits, based in the sense of absurd, self effacing or self serious huckterism so often on display with commercials for local businesses, and yet as the narrative progresses, the particular variety of comedic discomfort they inspire starts to give way to the surreal and horrific. There were points along the way where I didn't exactly know how I felt or was supposed to feel, but I was uncomfortable, while still being completely invested in what I was watching and the story unfolding.

This is not going to be a movie for everyone, but if you can appreciate experiments with narrative storytelling, I would recommend it. Beyond that, using this narrative structure, creates an interesting comment on the commercialization of human experience and community under capitalism, and if nothing else, it's worth checking out for the conversations it can inspire along those lines.

You can find Buffet Infinity currently streaming on Shudder and any of the major VOD platforms.