Buffet Infinity (2026), directed by Simon Glassman, just dropped and it deserves to be talked about. This is a film that takes the analog horror sub-genre, triples down and goes ALL IN. In doing so, it creates an absolutely fresh narrative approach that is equally compelling as it is cumbersome. The only question that remains, is it good?
Buffet Infinity – Culinary Ripples in the Fabric of the Cosmos
The plot of Buffet Infinity is not entirely clear, an aspect that will be discussed later, but on the surface the film involves a small town called Westridge County in Alberta Canada. A sandwich shop finds itself in an existential war with a new restaurant named Buffet Infinity. This newcomer offers a seemingly endless menu crossing all ethnic cuisine. In its rise to dominance the menu, and the restaurant footprint, continues to grow—seemingly infinite.
Eventually, the people of Westridge County, Alberta mysteriously disappear one by one. All the while, a local cult, growing in both popularity and power, seems to have an inside scoop on what is going down. A local pawnbroker named Ahmed hot fire with his lone employee and watches it all go down — he really just wants to sell another boombox.
Lost? Confused? It’s all by design.
Late Night Cable Vignettes
Incredibly, the framework which Simon Glassman chooses is through late night cable television advertisements. Through this narrative device Glassman methodically releases details that pertain to the plot. Some of these are on the nose, while others are more obfuscated and subversive. As the film begins, the advertisements feel “normal” in that weird kind of late night cable way. Blinding primitive video overlays, tracking lines, low quality green-screens and vocal tracks creeping slightly out sync feel authentic, but over the course of the film small things begin to go askew. A meta narrative evolves as the disjointed commercials eventually contort into something more sinister. The approach is both brilliant, and fatiguing.
Through this device, several sub plots and characters develop. Attorney Mosley Rosin slowly transforms from your standard ambulance chasing attorney to something more sinister as he subtly starts aligning himself to a new world order. Author and local cult leader Langdon P. Hershey warns the public of what is to come, until he himself becomes a victim. An insurance advertisement becomes increasingly dark and psychologically twisted. Captain Savings eternal war with the evil Professor High Price gets violent. Ahmed, a local pawnbroker just wants show off his inventory of fresh gear and sell another Kangol hat.
It’s very much like you’re flipping through deep cable in the 90
— Asia Alosa
The result is a completely disorienting, shockingly uncanny and totally unsettling.
Analog, Ontological, Cosmic
Analog horror has been hitting its stride lately, but Buffet Infinity represents the far extreme of the art. Analog horror is at its most compelling when it is completely immersive and coupled with other genre devices to spice it up. For instance, inescapable analog doom of Skinamarimk coupled with the liminal aspects as of a home fading out of reality made that film an unlikely smash. Buffet Infinity leans heavily into cosmic horror as an alien force is tearing away at the very reality of Westridge.
The constant, yet gradual contortion of reality seems to jab at something deeply foundational in the psyche. Through advertisements that could outwardly be described as quirky, or even comical Buffet Infinity suffocates with a feeling of impending doom. it’s as if Becky, Queen of Carpet and Wand Princess of Tile are bringing forth the leviathan from the Book of Revelation.
It all could fall apart if not done so masterfully. The twists and turns are slight. They are delivered at a crushingly slow pace. It feels like an Illuminati conspiracy unraveling in the strobing blue light of a CRT television.
Where Buffet Infinity Shines
Buffet Infinity is not a comedy, at least on the surface, but it is extremely funny and it so so disarming. Some of the ads are deadly serious, yet so cringe worthy that it feels comical. Gen X folk will get a rise out of the simple fact that they lived much of this growing up. The simple fact that all of the ads support the ridiculous plot is comedy in itself. Buffet Infinity succeeds by taking itself so seriously that nobody else can take it seriously.
If nothing else, Buffet Infinity acts as a metaphor for crass consumerism and it does that as any film since Larry Cohen’s The Stuff.
The characterization of Langdon P. Hershey is brilliant. He is built in the image of L. Ron Hubbard. A bigger than life cult leader built on a seemingly absurd science fiction foundation. Played by Dino Primo, the character exudes the self-assured confidence of a genuine sociopath. It would be good enough if it stopped there, but the writers have more in store. Langdon’s appearance has so much in common with Jim Jones that it couldn’t be accidental. In other deep cult similarities, the acoustic songs of Hershey evoke David Koresh or even Charles Manson vibes.
There’s a man we thank
and he’s built like a tank
and he calls the fortified mind
Onward fortified mind
Energy transfered but it never dies
Onward fortified mind
Onward fortified mind
— Langdon P. Hershey
Then there is my man Ahmed. Ahmed owns the local pawn shop. He see the world unwinding all around him while he fortifies the place and stands guard with his Glock. He would rather be playing solitaire than watching an alien force rip open the fabric of space and time, possess his partner and usher in the apocalypse. The best parts of Buffet Infinity come from Ahmed’s pawn shop.
Where Buffet Infinity Flounders
There is so much that’s good about Buffet Infinity, this format is a A LOT to ask of the average viewer. Buffet Infinity is not a short movie. It’s over 90 minutes long, and it feels MUCH longer than that. Because of the format, an astute viewer will only be able to parse about 80% of the reveals. In practice, that is okay because the film does provide ample opportunity to hang through repetition of key concepts, but the repetition then becomes a problem of its own.
Buffet Infinity demands a heavy price from the audience. Most viewers will feel like they can’t miss a single second and a lot of those seconds are wasted.
Despite all of the hints, the film is still very difficult to follow and most will walk away not entirely sure what the hell happened. That’s probably okay too since the Internet can help smooth out those rough edges, but it feels like an unreasonable expectation.
All said and done, Buffet Infinity is an exhausting film.
But is Buffet Infinity Good?
There is a lot to criticize about Buffet Infinity. Audacious creativity is not one of them. Yes, the film beats the audience into submission, but when it is all said and done it feels like something innovative and unprecedented.
Whether or not someone will enjoy their experience with Buffet Infinity depends entirely on their tolerance for chaos and satire. While it is not clear that it is for everyone, it still feels like something everyone should see at least once. Certainly, cinema fans looking for something new will find something worth watching. The same people that managed to get through 3 hours of Inland Empire (2006) will be riveted to this film, much for the same reasons. It’s impossible to look away.
Simon Glassman has crafted a brilliant, maddening piece of modern analog horror that functions as equal parts art installation and existential threat. People will leave their easy chair confused, drained, and wholly overstimulated—and that’s precisely what Glassman intended.
Buffet Infinity (2026) Review - Extreme Analog Horror - Malevolentdark
Director: Simon Glassman
Date Created: 2026-10-14 15:20
3.5