South Park: Post COVID Spoiler-Review
Thirty years from now, an entire generation of kids will be able to look back and say that they grew up during the COVID-19 Pandemic. How will it have shaped their lives? Affected the way they look at the world and interact with each other? Matt Stone and Trey Parker decided not to wait and just give us a glimpse into a post-COVID world for Thanksgiving. So, what does the South Park of the future look like in the show’s new movie for Paramount+?
To be honest, it’s dark and hilarious, but darker than it is hilarious.
Where Are they Now?
The film wastes no time showing us what to expect, starting off with a news report saying we’re finally beating COVID-19…thirty years in the future. Clearly, South Park thinks that COVID’s going to stick around for a long time and that it may be years for we’re finally in a Post COVID stage. As for the kids of South Park, they’ve all been shaped been by COVID, for better or worse. Though in the case of the four boys, it may be for the worst.
In the Vaccination Special, the boys’ broship fell apart, and “Post COVID” makes it look like it stayed that way. Stan’s living somewhere else with an AI of Alexa, claiming to be an online wine taster, though it’s just an excuse to get drunk. Kyle’s working as a counselor and still living in South Park. Kenny’s a millionaire scientist/philanthropist whose death ends up setting off the plot of the film.
Of the four boys, though, the one who seems the most well off is, of all people, Cartman. Rather than be a ruthless business mogul, politician, or mob boss, the Post COVID Cartman’s a married Rabbi with kids. It’s the kind of twist that will either make fans go “what the heck,” or laugh their butts off over. Maybe both! Kyle, however, remains convinced that Cartman’s doing all this as part of a decades-long plan to mess with him.
In any event, Kenny’s death ends up bringing everyone back together in South Park. Unfortunately, once it’s revealed that he died from another COVID variant, the whole town’s quarantined, forcing them to grapple with the past while also learning what Kenny was trying to do before he died. Hilarity and drama ensue.
Post COVID South Park is Darker Than Usual
Matt and Trey seem to have had field day guessing what a future South Park would be like. In classic South Park form, it’s full of black comedy. All comedy is woke, the police don’t exist, all protein comes from insects, and the senior center’s so big, it’s now a high-rise apartment.
While South Park has always relied on black comedy, there’s something different about how it’s used in “Post COVID.” The film makes it seem like all sense of optimism for the future went and died when the Pandemic hit, and the entire world’s more cynical than ever.
There is a silver lining, though it depends on how you feel regarding the whole ‘Tegridy Farms’ thing. Stan finally got fed up and burned the whole place down, but killed Shelley in the process. Then Sharon killed herself over it. So, it feels like Matt and Trey gave everyone who hated Tegridy Farms what they wanted in the worst way possible. And by the special’s end, it looks like Randy plans to rebuild the farm, saying it’s the key to fixing everything.
Post COVID Quantum Boogaloo
It turns out, this whole time Kenny was working on a form of time travel to stop COVID from ever happening. His reason is that he wants to stop his friend’s broship from ever falling apart. Now that he’s dead, though, Stan and Kyle plan to finish what he started. As for Cartman, he’s ready to put a stop to it since he likes how his life turned out.
The whole film ends on a big cliffhanger that makes it clear that the “Post COVID” story isn’t over. South Park made a deal with Paramount+ to make a ton of films for the streaming service, with the next one due in December. Thus, it’s likely that the next film will continue trying to “fix” the sucky future for everyone. At this point, though, most people would want to use time travel to go back and stop the Pandemic from happening.
As a whole, “Post COVID” tries to be funny and dark, but aside from a few jokes, (especially with Cartman), it’s more dark than funny. Seeing how miserable the boys are is genuinely sad to look at, and makes you wish that things turned out differently. Then again, maybe Matt and Trey will use time travel to undo this whole future just so they can set us up for the next season of South Park, whenever that happens. Here’s hoping the next film makes this whole story better as a whole.
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