Reviewed by Carly Liao, a writer.

If the 2023 comedy horror film Cocaine Bear were a dessert, it would be meringue: a pleasure to sink one’s teeth into, but hardly substantive. Just as eating a meringue leaves one as hungry as before, watching Cocaine Bear gives viewers no greater understanding of its plot or themes than they had going into the theater. Nevertheless, Elizabeth Banks’ most recent directorial endeavor makes for a delightfully enjoyable viewing experience, so long as audiences can turn their minds off and simply indulge in the wonderful ridiculousness of its premise.

The title of the film essentially encapsulates its plot: following a botched cocaine drop-off over the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in 1980s Georgia, a black bear ingests cocaine and subsequently embarks on a violent rampage. Remarkably, the film is based on a true story—though fortunately for unsuspecting hikers (and unfortunately for the poor mammal), the real-life “cocaine bear” died of an overdose shortly after consumption. 

The film follows three main protagonists: Sari (Keri Russell), a nurse searching for her missing daughter; Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), a member of the drug smuggling gang sent to retrieve the lost cocaine; and Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich), the gang leader’s estranged son and a recent widower. Most of the characters remain relatively one-dimensional throughout the film as they navigate the forest and attempt to avoid violent dismemberment. Still, there are a few heartfelt moments in the film, when its characters develop in small yet touching ways: for example, when a minor cop character (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) reveals his affection for a dog that had previously seemed to irritate him, or when Eddie admits that Daveed really has been his friend all along.

Cocaine Bear’s emotional scenes are few and far between, however. Most of the film consists of exaggerated horror-movie fare such as jump scares and gory special effects, which are largely employed for comedic purposes. For instance, in an early scene, a hiker is dragged off-screen by the cocaine-fueled bear; a few shots later, her dismembered leg launches through the air to announce her death. On another occasion, an incompetent park ranger aims her pistol at the rampaging bear, only to miss and shoot through the head of one of her accomplices instead. The dialogue is similarly absurd: in one particularly memorable scene, a young boy discovers a brick of cocaine in the woods and attempts to eat it to show off in front of his crush. The movie’s consistency in its ridiculousness indicates that everything is in good fun, though it may come off as jarring or tasteless to those who find it more difficult to suspend their disbelief.

It would be wise for viewers of Cocaine Bear not to fixate too carefully on such trivial matters as why things are happening or what is going on. The movie does not pretend to be anything other than what it is: nonsensical and darkly comical. Indeed, much of the fun of Cocaine Bear lies in the fact that there is, for the most part, no deeper theme. The film simply asks, “Wouldn’t it be crazy if that happened?” The result is a thoroughly bizarre and entertaining hour-and-a-half affair that is best enjoyed with a large group of friends, copious amounts of popcorn and considerable suspension of disbelief. Ultimately, Cocaine Bear is a solid two-and-a-half-star film: perfect for whiling away a lazy evening with friends, but perhaps not ideal for those who prefer movies with poignant emotional beats or intellectual challenges.

Rated R for bloody violence, gore, drug content, and language.