There’s something poetic aboutExtract—a comedy about midlife malaise and corporate absurdity—quietly becoming a streaming hit 16 years after its release.Mike Judge’s2009 follow-up toOffice Spacewas a box office underperformer at the time, grossing just $10.8 million. But now, in one of the year’s more unexpected developments, it’s rocketed to the #1 spot on Paramount+, where audiences are finally discovering its weird, wonderful brilliance.
The film starsJason Batemanas Joel Reynold, the weary owner of a flavor extract plant who is tempted into a series of bad decisions—starting with hiring a gigolo to seduce his wife (played byKristen Wiig) so he can pursue a con-woman employee (Mila Kunis). Joel’s harebrained schemes, enabled by his stoner bartender friend (Ben Affleck, in full greasy-hair-and-goatee mode), send his life spiraling out of control.
According to Bateman,Extractwasn’t just another gig. “Mike Judge was 90% of the reason why I joined the film,”he told Collider, explaining that the script came to him through their shared manager,Michael Rotenberg. “I read the script and loved that and then Mike and I had lunch… It seemed like maybe he was going to maybe give me the part.”
The challenge, Bateman said, was funding. “It took about 3 years until we got the right kind of money so he could have some autonomy,” he recalled, emphasizing how Judge’s “specific sensibility and comedic tone” had to be protected.
Is ‘Extract’ Worth Watching on Paramount+?
Extractwas warmly receivedby some critics at the time. One called it “Mike Judge’s best film to date,” praising its deep comedic bench and Bateman’s “finest performance to date.” That’s saying something, considering his work inArrested Developmentand his reputation for elevating everything fromJunotoGame Night.
The film plays like a kind ofOffice Spacein reverse. Where that 1999 cult classic championed the working stiff against his corporate overlords,Extractsympathizes with the boss—one drowning in both management chaos and existential despair. But it still skewers capitalism, inept HR departments, annoying neighbors (David Koechneris absolutely infuriating as Nathan), and the kind of polite self-denial that gets people into terrible messes.
Despite the laughs, the film also works as a character study. Every cast member gets their moment, from Kunis’s dangerously charming Cindy to Clifton Collins Jr.’s tragically maimed employee Step. And yes, evenGene Simmonsshows up and—somehow—he’s hilarious.
