A Surreal and Scary Found Video Has a Secret Sauce, But It Will Steal Your Personality
Written by Robert Scucci | Updated
I was just blown away Buffet Infinity (2025), and to fully explain why, I must reveal something about my upbringing. I was born in 1988 and grew up when cable TV was filled with late night pay shows and low budget commercials from local businesses. When I am a working adult again Breaking Bad again Better Call Saul doing their rounds, I used to laugh at Saul Goodman commercials not just because they were funny, but because I remember watching those fever-dream shows while lying on the couch as a kid.
I know Yankee Discount Muffler is the best in town, and I know JG Wentworth can get you cash right now if you need it. When Ron Popeil said enthusiastically, “But wait, there's more!” I braced myself for impact. I know that Mozzimo's Pizza “doesn't have cows, so they buy their own cheese!” As a millennial on the wrong side of her 30s, I sometimes seek out these ads on YouTube because they're so bombastic but so spot on.
There is also a nostalgia factor because, back in the day, ads didn't make it out of the woods. These days, you follow your favorite content creator, to learn that their main goal in life was to find a partnership with Chileans to use established parasocial relationships for clicks and dollars.
Buffet Infinity aggressive harkens back to the good old days, when the commercial volume was 100 decibels louder than any show you slept through. It's acceptable but surprising, and then quickly descends into surreal and terrifying world-building as an endless block of ads from a forgotten era begin to overlap, telling you what's really at stake.
100 Minutes of Commercials
If you will watch Buffet Infinitymake sure you're ready, because there's a lot to consider. We read about a restaurant called Buffet Infinity, located in the Crossroads Shopping Complex, which seems to have just appeared and offers low prices with an endless amount of bad gastronomy.
The markets don't stop there. In fact, they don't stop. Among Buffet Infinity's ad spots, we were introduced to Mosley Rosin & Associates, which deals with emotional trauma and can be reached at 1-800-555-PAIN, Mattress Mattress Surplus, Babbacock Insurance, information on an antidepressant called Xentophylon that takes many cheap photos to help the Automobile Group (Westbridge) superhero mascot with a low budget), and Ahmed's Pawn shop.
In the beginning, Buffet Infinity presents itself as a piece of early-aughts nostalgia, but quickly descends into an overwhelming analog horror experience. In the news bumper, we learn about the growing canal behind the Crossroads Shopping Complex that everyone seems to know about, but officials just tell people to park in front of the building to avoid it. Buffet Infinity continues to grow at a rapid pace, much to the constant frustration of Jenny Avery, owner of Jenny's Sandwiches Inc. She's a local celebrity thanks to her recipe for The Avery Family Secret Sauce (she has the sauce!), and she's not too fond of the new competition.
A Gradual Ascent That You Can't Run Away From
As Jenny idly captures Buffet Infinity by making cheap imitations of her sauce and threatening her livelihood, dozens of people begin to go missing, including Jenny herself. Meanwhile, the Buffet Infinity bumpers kept rolling, making fun of how easy it was to replicate the sauce and that it says it's an Italian recipe when it's actually ketchup. Ahmed is desperately trying to keep his pawn shop in business, while the Babbacock Insurance agent deals with his rise in the form of repeated injuries and murders in order to collect on his various policies.
What starts as a simple series of unrelated commercials quickly turns into a community of struggling business owners. Buffet Infinity now has a play area, serves oysters, and positions itself as a place of luxury, but ceremonial walls are being built to honor all the people who have disappeared since the restaurant first appeared. As society continues to crumble, it comes across terrifyingly disturbing ad spots from the Westbridge Society for Religious Freedom, a death cult that doesn't tell you much other than “IT'S WATCHING YOU.”
As horrible as it all is, Buffet Infinity it is very effective in getting its point across. Straight up brain rot and an early-aughts vibe, and it robs you of satisfaction every step of the way. Every time someone is about to reveal something big enough to explain what's really going on, the film smashes into yet another commercial, and the cycle continues without relief.
And it's a strong critique of consumerism and what happens when it's clear that there's a crisis unfolding in your society. It's the late night Fox 61 commercials (which used to be on channel 21) that make absolutely no sense when you're sleepy, knowing full well you should just turn off the TV. It's the small business owners who realize something wrong is happening, but still have to open tomorrow and figure out how they can stay in business while an evil, all-knowing, ever-growing corporation strips their community of its humanity.
Buffet Infinity it's surreal, disturbing, and sometimes downright terrifying. But it does all of the above with a wink and a nod, as if to remind you that this is all a nightmare. It makes you yearn for the pre-broadcast era, while at the same time making you grateful that you don't have to wake up in the middle of a three-hour block of pay-per-view shows that seem determined to sap your will and kill you.
As of this writing, Buffet Infinity it's not available to stream on any major platforms, but you can rent or buy it on demand through YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV+.
