Barbaque
Director: Fabrice Eboué
Writer: Fabrice Eboué, Vincent Solignac
Cast: Fabrice Eboué, Marina Foïs, Jean-François Cayrey, Lisa Do Couto Texeira, Virginie Hocq, Victor Meutelet, Stéphane Soo Mongo
Part of: SLASH 1/2 Filmfestival
Seen on: 7.5.2022

Content Note: fatmisia

Plot:
Vincent (Fabrice Eboué) and Sophie (Marina Foïs) run a small butcher shop together, and things have been slow. It seems inevitable that they will have to close soon and bow to the pressures of bigger stores. Their marriage seems equally doomed to fail. And then their store is attacked by vegan activists to boot. When they just happen to pass one of the activists as he cycles along the road, Vincent loses it – and kills him. Next thing you know, the two are selling the vegan’s meat. And this might just be the thing to safe the store and the marriage, both. If only it wasn’t so hard to get.

Some Like It Rare is a funny film, although not every joke works equally and sometimes, it kicks down a little. Overall, I did have fun with it, though.

Going into the film, I was afraid that it would only make fun of vegans. While I agree that there is a certain subset of vegans who overdo things a little by totally ignoring every other issue than veganism, I think that the general idea of at least trying to eat in a more sustainable, eco-friendly and animal-friendly way is nothing to sneer at. Especially when they just do their thing which shouldn’t bother anyone. Unfortunately, vegans are the butt of the joke a lot, and a lot of the time, it’s far from benign joking.

Some Like It Rare does have moments when it misses the mark in that regard as well. For example, when it jokes about the emphasis on consent, it comes off as making fun of people for stating their boundaries clearly and negotiating them in a relationship, which should be a healthy thing, even if we don’t understand all boundaries of others. I was also a little taken aback by the entire “let’s hunt the fat vegans” thing. It’s a fetishizing look at fatness and the images that result from it – Vincent and Sophie standing over slaughtered fat people – is fatmisic as fuck.

Even though I just spend a lot of time detailing what parts of the film didn’t work for me that much, those are only small parts of the film. Most of the humor, the film gets from its premise – and it is a funny premise. It only doesn’t just make fun of vegans, but also of the meat industry and the perversities there, including a bit of criticism in its jokes. It definitely made me laugh more than once.

Most importantly, the film knows how far it can stretch its idea, and when to call it quits. It doesn’t overstay its welcome that way, and brings things to a good end that made it possible to leave the cinema with a smile.

Summarizing: Enjoyable.