This is the story of two friends: one, more childish than a child, named Blaise, and the other, George, who is constantly bullied at school and by his friends. Tired of this situation, he accidentally finds a machine gun and takes revenge. The protagonists are immersed in a society with a particular focus on the cult of image, the pursuit of the perfect body, and the superficiality of pop culture.

A group of young people, the Chivers, who are “beautiful inside and out,” add another layer of absurdity to the film. They seem to be a parody of groups dedicated to specific trends and fads, but they do so in an exaggerated and ridiculous way. Being up to date is an obsession.

Their lifestyle is absurd—they refuse to drink anything other than milk. They present themselves as a sort of "sect" of fanatics devoted to this beverage, with an almost religious dedication. Their strict adherence to this diet, which seems more like a mantra than an actual dietary choice, is one of the many absurdities explored in the film, just like the multi-gesture greeting they perform every time they meet. Moreover, they categorically reject smoking—theirs is an obsession with a "healthy" life that turns into a comedic paradox. Their rigid adherence to dietary habits and lifestyle becomes even more incongruous considering the environment and overall tone of the film, which is anything but healthy or "normal."

The film's intent is to highlight the paradox of modern culture, the superficiality of trends, and the glorification of extreme and often irrational behaviors. Dupieux uses this group as a metaphor for contemporary obsessions and trends that take hold without any conscious or sensible foundation, thus adding another layer of social critique through grotesque and, at times, hilarious humor. It is a structured reflection on social and behavioral dynamics beyond any logic.

The element of the little girl "kidnapped" by the pedophile, like many other aspects of the film, becomes just another piece of a narrative that does not follow conventional rules. The contrast between the gravity of the situation and the absurd behavior of the characters is one of the main features of Dupieux's style, creating disorientation and amusing confusion.

This dynamic between the mother and the kidnapping serves, like many other situations in the film, to question human reactions to tragedies and extreme situations. The mother could be seen as a caricature of a certain emotional indifference typical of some parodies of modern society. But all of this, as in Steak, is never serious but rather a provocation—an exaggeration meant to destabilize and disorient the viewer, another example of Dupieux's unconventional approach, where the unexpected and the absurd are the norm, and any narrative expectation is challenged.

The humor in Steak is often macabre, the pace frantic, and the plot deliberately absurd. But it is precisely in this lack of conventionality that the film's charm lies. Dupieux plays with nonsense effortlessly, creating an atmosphere that is both comedic and unsettling. Situations seem to evolve without reason, as if the art of the film were also about defying any narrative logic, letting chaos and bizarreness mock cinematic conventions.

From a visual perspective, Steak is a riot of vibrant colors, eccentric framing, and an aesthetic that plays with kitsch, making the film even more surreal and unconventional. Dupieux's direction is perfectly in tune with the film’s tone, portraying a world that is both familiar and alien.

The lack of a solid plot and the continuous escalation of absurd situations, however, make the film absolutely unmissable. The narrative seems to follow a deliberately confused path, which might unsettle those expecting a linear storyline.

Dupieux’s second film challenges expectations through a subtle satire of contemporary society and its aesthetic values. It is a work that perfectly embodies the idea of "unconventional" cinema, offering an original and provocative vision for an audience willing to embrace absurdity and unpredictable humor. Lovers of experimental cinema and surreal comedy will find in Steak a reference to matter itself—flesh replacing the individual—in a perfect fusion of madness and critique, delirium and analysis, disorder and structure.

Dupieux’s Clockwork Orange, with a fragrance of Grease and the ontology of The Truman Show, manages to depict conformism, the conformist drift, and the inevitable representation of patriarchy in the hands of idiocy with a directorial skill that only a surprising talent like the director of Mandibules can translate into cinematic art.

09-Mar-2025 by Fabian