Rating: ***
Review Date: 12/29/24
Director: Trey Parker
During a visit to the doctor, Cartman is told that semaglutide drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro can help him lose weight, but insurance won't cover it and his family can't afford to pay for it. Upon hearing this, Kyle sets out to navigate the American healthcare system in a musical montage of increasingly frustrating dead ends. Finally, after watching some TikTok and YouTube videos, Kyle decides to mix his own obesity drugs with raw materials from an Indian pharmaceutical company. Unfortunately, the American Sugar Syndicate gets wind of this and violently shuts them down. With nowhere to get their fix, the MILFs of South Park launch a violent raid on Kyle's latest shipment in a delightful homage to "The Road Warrior" (1981).
Not surprisingly, it's a dark and scathing attack on the American healthcare system, obesity, and body image issues in general. Cartman's heartbreaking plight is all too real, although his post-weight loss ambitions are laughably tasteless and rude. Production-wise, it's what you would expect from the series, with some slick-looking CGI thrown in for the car chases. Seeing the old cereal mascots like Tony The Tiger, Dig 'em, Sugar Bear, Cap'n Crunch, Trix Rabbit, and Little Debbie was a howl, and I was impressed by the poignant and tightly-scripted story.