‘Beef’ Director Jack Schreier Breaks Down His Return to the Acclaimed Netflix Series

One of Netflix‘s biggest breakout hits of 2023 was the 10-episode Beef from creator Lee Sung Jin, aka Sonny Lee. Starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, the show explored the aftermath of the regular, everyday occurrence of a near-collision in a parking lot, which escalates into a full-blown car chase, sending both characters down a dark spiral. The series was renewed for a second season and, rather than continuing to explore the characters played by Yeun and Wong, we get an all-new premise and an all-new cast.

Despite the new storyline, a number of behind-the-scenes figures from Season 1 returned, such as director and producer Jake Schreier. For Season 2, Schreier helmed all eight entries, and while he knew the storyline was entirely different, there might be some unnoticed consistencies with what made the first season such a success.

Speaking with MovieWeb, Shcreier explained how his team approached the visual language of Season 2 compared to Season 1:

“I think from a shot structure perspective, we were trying to maintain a certain level of consistency. There’s a language to Beef that really ties in the character perspective and imbalanced coverage, something we came up with on Season 1 that we did want to continue, and it’s become part of the way that I direct and the way that Sonny has also embraced as a director. I think in other levels, visually, we absolutely wanted to take a different step, and that was something Sonny really felt from the beginning.

“We have the amazing James Laxton shooting the season this year as opposed to Larkin Seiple, and they have very different perspectives on imagery, even though they’re both incredible masters of their craft in their own way. And then Gracie [Yun], our wonderful production designer, really embraced a new aesthetic for this season that she and Sonny worked on very closely.”

He added, “I think in a lot of ways, Sonny’s always looking to push it to be different and almost talks about it like, if you were into a band, you would want to see the next album develop and be something new and not just go back to the same aesthetics as the previous one.”

Season 2 of the series stars Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Cailee Spaeny, and Charles Melton. The story similarly follows the after effects of an unexpected confrontation, though this time, it unfolds around a country club and a marital dispute.

Not only was Season 1 one of the more talked-about programs of 2023, it was also one of the most acclaimed. It won both the Emmy and Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, while Yeun and Wong both earned themselves their own Emmy and Golden Globe for their performances. Given that the debut season felt like it came out of nowhere, Schreier explained the creative team’s approach to telling another story while living in the shadow of what came before it:

“It didn’t feel massively different in that way. We weren’t having to hide actors’ costumes as they went to set or anything like that. One thing that’s so great about Sonny is he’s so self-critical and pushes himself so hard and wants people around him to push him hard as well that there never was any sense of resting on laurels … There’s pressure, but there’s always pressure when you’re making something, to make something good.

“It’s so hard to make something even good, that you want to aim for great and just hope that things work out. But it didn’t feel dramatically different than Season 1. It felt like we had an incredible group of collaborators and people who really wanted to make something that felt personal to everyone involved and just make the best thing that they could.”

With the attention earned by the first season, it’s hard to imagine Season 2 won’t similarly be a hit, the only question is how big of a hit it will be.