By now you know that Netflix subscribes to the mantra that ‘content is king.’
What was once home only to premium titles like House Of Cards and Stranger Things has since come to include an endless scroll of genres from reality TV (we’re looking at you, Byron Baes) to – almost nonsensically – a show about deciphering whether an object is cake.
While there’s something to be said of streaming service’s new affinity for mindless guilty pleasures (spoiler alert, it is cake), selecting a quality film within the homepage can feel like a needle in the haystack kind of payoff. That’s why we’re taking the guesswork out of your weekly binge by suggesting exactly what movie to watch with our latest Executive Decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVAcTZKTgmc
The R-rated animation Sausage Party follows a grocery store’s worth of personified food items in their quest to be purchased by humans. When Frank the sausage, voiced by Seth Rogan, discovers the truth about what awaits them outside the store (namely being eaten or, in the douche’s case, shat on) he enlists his fellow perishables to escape the Woolies trolley. It’s an innuendo-filled, bordering-on-pornographic romp, but if you’re still unconvinced, here’s five reasons you should (re)watch Sausage Party tonight.
Adult animation.
There’s something inherently gleeful about an animation made for adults. Sexual references and profanity are usually reserved for live action titles, which makes their inclusion in a mostly-children’s genre all the more titillating. Let’s just say that if there was a rating above R, Sausage Party would meet and exceed the criteria. It takes its title literally, often to the point of obscenity, and makes The Simpsons look like My Little Pony.
The groceries are perfectly characterised.
It’d be easy for the schtick of anthropomorphic groceries to wear off, but Sausage Party uses our perceptions of food so cleverly that you’ll never look at a tortilla the same way again. Rogen’s protagonist sausage is understandably in love with a (suggestively shaped) bun, while peanut butter finds its logical soulmate in jam. The packaged meatloaf is actually voiced by the musician of the same name, and Nick Kroll- the king of voice acting a la Big Mouth – perfectly embodies the double meaning that his namesake item connotes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6eX1Mu586s
Surprisingly profound.
In amongst countless C-bombs and talking condoms, Sausage Party is actually an allegory about religion. The food item’s belief in the ‘Great Beyond’ (outside the store) resembles heaven, and their eventual collaboration after discovering what lies there is an apparent criticism of organised religion. To squeeze profound metaphors into a film about a sausage wanting to bang a bun is no small feat, and the introductory song is as close to a religious manifesto that maybe any other film has achieved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvIqR1cMbv0
Reunion of comedy greats.
Though it wasn’t directed by him, Sausage Party reunites comedians of the Judd Appatow ilk. Rogen, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride and Michael Cera all comprise the main cast, but the film also stars fellow comic heavy hitters like Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Paul Rudd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG9mGkTn3eI
Food porn.
I’m not using that term in the way it’s often applied to a delicious-looking avocado stack. I’m using ‘food porn’ in the literal sense, given that Sausage Party’s finale sequence involves a store-wide food orgy. While it had teetered on the XXX edge, Sausage Party’s closing moments are so explicit they almost warrant an extra category on PornHub.
