Co-directed by Jim Cummings and PJ McCabe (who plays a small part in the film), The Beta Test crafts a story that, on the face of it, is about this mystery involving anonymous sex and how the age of internet connectivity is setting us up for massive downfalls, especially for extremely image-conscious people. Cummings’ The Beta Test has some choice words for Hollywood agents and a rather blunt disdain for toxic masculinity and male fragility.
The Beta Test follows Jordan (Cummings), a Hollywood agent who is less than two months away from getting married. One day, he receives an invitation in a purple envelope for anonymous sex with a stranger. Someone with reason and an understanding of how shady this situation is would have immediately thrown out the card or handed it over to the police. Jordan is not that person, however, and as the harrowing opening scene informs the audience, many have fallen victim to the horrible idea. Jordan, who seemingly has everything a man can want or need, decides to go for it. What follows is the absolute implosion of a man who is unable to get in touch with his feelings and is smothered by toxic masculinity; the most horrifying thing of all is he's a world-class jerk.
Despite some key moments that speak to the issue of social media and how people's private lives are being commodified and packaged to sell anything from designer shoes, a new home, or even unexpected sexual encounters, these scenes are fleeting at best. They don’t pack nearly as much of a punch as expected, even if it’s the B plot. The main crux of The Beta Test is ultimately about male fragility and toxic masculinity. In a scene where Jordan’s mental state reaches a crescendo, he remarks on how the world is becoming a horrible place, and that it is a world he won’t have any control of. Intentionally or not the filmmakers center an individual who is beyond sympathy, but is completely understandable. The opening of the film is a jarring juxtaposition of how Jordan approaches the situation and his motivations compared to a woman who receives the same invitation. An entirely different perspective could be told from her point of view which sheds light on what leads a woman to infidelity.
Jordan is not an unfamiliar person. He is someone who has been told explicitly by a patriarchal society that he needs to be a man that is always in control. When Jordan receives this enticing invitation to have sex with a complete stranger, he relinquishes control of his life. Jordan may not be able to articulate it, but this notion of the alpha male versus the beta male is all too familiar when women are regularly forced to reckon with a society that only sees them as objects of desire and who are only worth pursuing for sex. Outside of sex, men are meant to be dominant forces in all spaces they occupy and anything that challenges that should be met with aggression. Jordan is both a victim and an eager participant in this vicious mentality. While The Beta Test lacks subtlety and is not as incisive as it sets out to be, it does manage to accurately display a clear picture of life’s greatest horror villain: a toxic man.
As someone who has never seen Jim Cummings in anything, and can’t even recall seeing him in Halloween Kills, he is pretty darn charming. The actor has an exciting range when playing a character who is both comical and decidedly terrifying at the same time. From his cheap bravado to his aggressive macho man act to his awkwardness, Cummings proves to be an actor who is capable of just about anything. The Beta Test is a very impressive showcase for him as an actor, but also as a creative force — he is the film's writer, director, and editor.
The film tonally and thematically lines up with Jordan’s tacky Hollywood vibe, it’s as if McCabe and Cummings lean into the cheesiness to best illustrate Jordan’s world and presumably the nature of the film industry McCabe and Cummings are currently forced to reckon with as talent. This film has no sympathy for Hollywood, specifically those who lack the talent or ambition to actually be artists. Anchored by a charismatic performance from Cummings, The Beta Test is at times ridiculous, but it is a thoroughly entertaining and insightful satire. Cummings and McCabe don’t quite balance the purple envelope mystery with the character study of a self-involved man, and the ending takes a sharp left towards confusion, but it is surely something worth watching.
The Beta Test releases in select theatres, on digital platforms and VOD on November 5, 2021. It is 91 minutes long and is unrated.
Key Release Dates
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The Beta Test
Release Date:2021-11-05
