Horror Short Review: Mukbang 2 (2022)

What is a mukbang? It is basically a show where the host eats food on camera for a watching audience. For some, it’s akin to ASMR. To others, it’s a fetish. To most, it’s bloody weird. The perfect inspiration for horror aficionado Alex Magaña of ACMOfficial, who utilised the internet craze to tell a short horror story that we reviewed here.

It’s sequel time! As the star/victim of the first story, Carly (Becky Bush) wakes up in hospital unsure of how she got there. She then receives a text message stating that she failed the challenge from the unknown number that previously threatened to expose her fake videos.

The texter then offers her one more chance to avoid her online reputation being trashed. She must take part in something called ‘the 10-minute burgers, fires & nuggets challenge’. She agrees, however, points out the obvious… she’s in hospital, so it will have to wait.

There’s no chance of her having time to recover though, as her tormentor has planned ahead, and a delivery order of food has arrived. It looks like Carly will have to go live once again, if she is to avoid having her secrets revealed online.

What made the first Mukbang a decent short was how it turned a weird internet craze into something horrific. While also subtly dealing with the common issue of online dishonesty and the fear that many influencers feel of having their ‘fame’ torn away in an instant. It wasn’t a horror short to remember but it was enjoyable.

Mukbang 2 takes the same idea but ups the cheesiness and it’s… not great. Those hoping for further developments in the story will be left feeling short-changed. There’s almost a dream-like sense to how it plays out but as the final shot reveals, it certainly wasn’t all in her head. In fact, it seems as though we’re guaranteed to get a Mukbang 3.

Unlike some other series’ that ACMOfficial run, Mukbang 2 shows that this horror story has already run out of steam. Check it out yourself below.