"HBO Max Casper Kelly's Adult Swim Yule Log begins exactly how you'd expect: close-up footage of a roaring fire with quiet Christmas movies playing in the background. But that only lasts about two minutes before the frame is filled by a landlady cleaning a rental unit before the home is invaded by two strangers who murder her. That's when it becomes clear that this isn't a Yule Log video, it's the cold open of a slasher movie."
"It isn't long before we're introduced to the real stars of the movie, the people renting out the cabin for a holiday vacation. Slowly, the camera zooms out to reveal the entire living room, where much of the movie plays out like a stage play. Much like the opening of Barbarian, the double-booking of the rental has deadly consequences, especially when its revealed the central log of the fire was taken from a tree with a grisly past."
Adult Swim Yule Log opens with close-up footage of a roaring fire and quiet holiday films before abruptly shifting into a slasher cold open. A landlady is murdered, then attention moves to vacationers who discover their rental has been double-booked. Much of the action unfolds like a stage play as a central log, cut from a tree with a grisly past, becomes the catalyst for violence. The story escalates into surreal elements: a tiny man living in the fire, space-time distortions, and a meta finale linking events to generational trauma. A sequel parodies Hallmark-style holiday films while continuing the absurd horror tone.
Read at Inverse
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