Adult Swim Yule Log

Certainly unique, it introduces a whole 'nother level to "WTF." It may be one of the most unpredictable movies I've seen recently.

I agree with many reviewers. It's certainly best going in head-first with the least amount of information. That being said, I'll do my best to describe it without giving too much away.

Whoever wrote this, obviously intended to do something abstract, unique, and viral. In short, they succeeded, so kudos are due. There are a lot of horror movies like this, but there's also nothing like this. Check my rating history. I've seen a lot, a LOT of horror movies, and I ain't ever seen anything like this.

That being said, there are too many cooks. There are just too many cooks, and too many logs. I ain't ever seen so many logs and cooks in one sitting I might just be going crazy from so many logs, and so many cooks, it's an advent calendar of logs, cooks, that I cook, log, logged, I can't, log, fire, don't light the log, so many cooks, what is happening, fire, burn, log, cooks, too, many, I, AAAAuUUUGHHHH!!...

This movie is genius. Masked within safety, I stumbled upon the Yule Log after watching Rick and Morty, and its safe to say that I didn't look away for second. The start of this film is the definition of a hook; it catches you and drags you in, and all you can do is watch as your confusion grows throughout the entire experience. Casper Kelly is a genius and honestly should be given more recognition for his creativity and work. Kelly is so good at creating that classic adult swim confusion piece; the kind that makes you feel like there has to be more to what you're watching, but then once you get to the twist it ends up still not being what you expected. He's like Shyamalan but good at what he does. I really enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to anyone looking for a strange holiday film.

I had so much fun with this man, the less you know about this, the more fun it is to watch. I found a promo of this online and immediately knew I had to see what it was about, and it definitely didn't disappoint. The end product is flawed, you could probably read it apart. But my god, was the experience watching this purely mesmerizing. I came into this wanting a surreal, unpredictable piece of media. And I got exactly that, the film expertly raises the absurdity as it goes on, and the more absurd things got, the more invested I was. This was a really fun watch and while I don't know if I'll ever return to this, I really enjoyed my experience.

This is a snazzy horror movie that actually includes everything. First we have a couple in their Airbnb who come to find out it's been double-booked. They welcome the new renters in and the evening gets weird. Since everybody's on edibles it doesn't seem too strange that one of them climbs into the fireplace at the invitation of the little man standing on the burning yule log. Things get horrified when this little man starts to orchestrate. When asked for a Dr. Pepper he offers a Nurse Nutmeg. Wacky, huh? But the wackiness is in furtherance of the story. There are plenty of wacky elements that are great, for instance the space alien's face popping when he gets aload of the girl.

When advertisements for the Adult Swim Yule Log aired, they showcased the familiar features of a Yule Log video-- cracking wood, soothing tonal muzak, and the warmth of a simulated fire. And, indeed, for the first few minutes of the production that is what we get. But then, well, things happen.

The camera pans out and we are introduced to Ben, a part-time ad guy and aspiring YouTube Yule Log content creator, and Zoe, a career environmentalist burdened by her familial past and an event that has thrown her into an existential crisis. They intended to have romantic getaway at a rustic cabin in the woods but their plans are thrown awry, by a series of strange encounters. An ever-present threat lingers in the background as curious events connect characters, the past, present, and future, the house, the fireplace, and even the titular Yule Log.

Overall, it is definitely worth a watch, and, if you know your audience, sharing it is a great experience. It is a psychedelic straight-faced comedy that is not afraid of exploring the ordinary horror that we call history or the extraordinary horror of the unknown, unknowable, and absurd. There are some rather interesting visual effects and the production is not afraid to lean into or away from its initial framing device.

Ben and Zoe are well written characters and the actors pull their weight. Unlike Netflix shows where interracial couples are used as unexplored props or vehicles for Silicon Valley ideology, the script and the performers are conscious of the identity dynamics in play, which are handled thoughtfully without dominating the production.

Thematically, it is cohesive. More parts could have found their way to the cutting room floor, others needed fleshing out, but the Aesop is clearly communicated: Our existence is already unlikely, our continued existence is always eventually impossible, and strange even absurd things happen-- that's life. Rather than wish it were otherwise, we should fight for it.