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Move Over, Goncharov: There’s a ‘Shmunguss’ Among Us

Three screenshots from a TikTok showing the Netflix homescreen

So, after several Oscar wins and a place secured at the Golden Globes, it’s pretty clear that Goncharov has proven to be the best film of 2022, if not the best film of the decade. The easy, natural, and beautiful way the very real movie handles homoeroticism while making the classic appeal of gangster films somehow even sexier? Chef’s kiss. We really can’t get enough of that (again, extremely real) movie.

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However, it seems to have competition, in the form of a new franchise that’s taking the world by storm: Shmunguss.

Is Netflix’s Shmunguss Category Real?

What is Shmunguss, you might ask? Honey, what isn’t Shmunguss? Shmunguss is a cinematic universe in which everything and nothing is possible. Shmunguss is Paul Giamatti and his kingdom. Shmunguss is a dating show. Shmunguss is a revenge cop story. Shmunguss is whatever you want it to be, because it’s a bit.

Yep. You Googled this because you couldn’t find it on your own Netflix account, didn’t you. It’s a bit, albeit one that still eludes everyone.

Some sites think that they just used a word-replacing widget to replace different words with the word “shmunguss,” but after looking into the various titles featured in the above video, it’s apparent that the whole thing is manufactured. And to what end? I wasn’t aware that Among Us jokes were still funny, if that’s what this is referencing. Or, is this a new Rick and Morty VA soft-launch, since the name sounds so similar to shit like “plumbus” and “shmoopy nooples?”

Who can really say? We live in an age of absurdity. Absurdist humor runs supreme, and to an extent, there’s only so much we can rationalize before we lose the bit entirely.

So, you know. Shmunguss.

(featured image: screencaps)

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Author
Madeline Carpou
Madeline (she/her) is a staff writer with a focus on AANHPI and mixed-race representation. She enjoys covering a wide variety of topics, but her primary beats are music and gaming. Her journey into digital media began in college, primarily regarding audio: in 2018, she started producing her own music, which helped her secure a radio show and co-produce a local history podcast through 2019 and 2020. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz summa cum laude, her focus shifted to digital writing, where she's happy to say her History degree has certainly come in handy! When she's not working, she enjoys taking long walks, playing the guitar, and writing her own little stories (which may or may not ever see the light of day).

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