Yummy

Written by Lars Damoiseux and Eveline Hagenbeek
Directed by Lars Damoiseux
Starring Maaike Neuville, Bart Hollanders, Benjamin Ramon, Clara Cleymans and Joshua Rubin
Running Time: 1 hour and 28 minutes

by Liz Wiest

After a much-needed break from quarantine horror, Yummy was my first leap back into the magical world of European horror-comedy. This 2019 Shudder original is the feature debut of Dutch filmmaker Lars Damoiseux. This piece truly has it all- cameos from familiar Belgian actors, a vibrant soundtrack, zombies and lots of boob jobs. Backed by funding from the VAF, a faction of the Flemish government that sponsors culturally relevant film projects, this brilliantly shot camp-fest is a great pick for any avid horror-watcher who ever fantasized about what the lovechild of the Saw franchise and an A24 film would look like. [ed. I might ALSO point you towards Raw]

The story follows the stunning-yet-insecure Alison (Maaike Neuville from De Dag) and her clumsy boyfriend Michael (Bart Hollanders, also from De Dag), an unsuspecting couple on their way to a questionable Eastern European hospital for her breast reduction, as we learn in the beginning that being well-endowed is her tragic flaw. In tow is Alison’s overbearing and plastic surgery-obsessed mother who is along for yet another facelift. Upon their arrival, something immediately seems off to Michael, although he can’t articulate it. This is mostly due to his tendency to projectile vomit every time he sees blood. Not exactly the defining character trait you want to have as the protagonist of a zombie movie. 

While wandering through the operating rooms of the hospital (for the sake of time we’ll assume HIPAA law doesn’t exist in this universe) Michael uncovers a woman strapped to a gurney wearing a Goodnight Mommy-esque face covering, and accidentally sets her free. But this would-be chivalrous act quickly turns sour when it results in unleashing a deadly zombie virus that spreads like the plague among the residents and medical staff, and the small group of uninfected survivors must fight their way to safety.

Yummy boasts solid performances from the cast given what it lacks in writing (Damoiseaux and Eveline Hagenbeek), as all parties involved truly just feel excited to be there. The overall production design and sweeping exterior shots do their part in making a zombie movie about boob jobs as atmospheric as possible and it, without a doubt, provided quite the task for the VFX department. However, the film is most innovative in how it weaponizes its excessive gore in an attempt to make the Dawn of the Dead-like tropes as different as possible from others in its genre. To top it all off, there is some thinly veiled feel-good metaphor surrounding the idea of loving yourself for who you are, as Alison never ends up going through with her breast reduction. (Although in retrospect, this might just have been a way to maintain male viewership). 

If you’re looking for an hour-and-a-half of artistic debauchery then I can’t recommend Yummy enough. Although as a viewer during the COVID-19, the scariest part of the film is certainly the lack of medical masks worn by the staff, the film does check all the boxes for a captivating movie night in.

Yummy premieres on Shudder Thursday, June 25. More information can be found here.

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