Mark Mylod’s (What’s Your Number?, The Big White) The Menu is far from the kind of movie that usually interests me. It’s outrageously strange while still trying to come across as believable. I’m also not much of a fan of dark humor. Films like American Psycho, This Is The End, Burn After Reading, Blazing Saddles, The Cabin in the Woods, Little Miss Sunshine, The Favourite, Birdman, In Bruges, Inglorious Bastards, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Being John Malkovich, Borat, A Simple Favor, Hail, Caesar!, Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, The Cable Guy, Jo Jo Rabbit, The Ref, Trainspotting, The Big Lebowski, Funny Games, The War of the Roses, Adaptation, Heathers, Rushmore, Death to Smoochy, Snatch, Knives Out, Observe and Report, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Game Night, or The Lobster don’t do it for me.
I found many of these highly regarded films to be miserable movie-watching experiences. However, there are exceptions to the rule. These include films such as Fargo, Parasite, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Falling Down, American Beauty, and Thank You For Smoking, which I’ve greatly enjoyed. As much as I liked these six movies, I don’t think I’ll watch them again (I have seen Fargo and American Beauty twice). The Menu is a movie that is so bizarre, but also fascinating and engaging. It’s a whole lot of fun. While I didn’t love it, I’m glad I watched it, even if it was one of those movies where I hoped I wouldn’t run into anyone I knew when I left the theater.
The Menu had a successful marketing campaign. The film’s trailers couldn’t be avoided. They appeared on television, as ads on websites I visit, on social media, and more. There was just enough intrigue that had me searching for more. I knew that Ralph Fiennes (Schindler’s List, The English Patient) was some sort of intense chef who expected perfection from those working in his kitchen. In my head, I pictured it as a much more adult-oriented version of Burnt, a film that I thoroughly enjoyed but was equally crushed by critics and audiences.
I couldn’t have been more wrong in my assessment. I’m glad I knew so little of its plot. I may have passed it on if I knew it fell into the dark comedy genre. Funny aside: I had initially planned to attend She Said, knowing I would see both of these movies in the coming week. I arrived at the theater, wondering which I would see, as each started within ten minutes of the other. I chose She Said, only to learn that specific auditoriums were out of service and that the one showing She Said was one of them. My decision was made for me and kept me from reading reviews on The Menu, which may have dissuaded me from watching.
Think of the setting of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. If you’re unfamiliar with the mystery author’s best novel, it takes place in a mansion on a secluded island. Ten people are in the movie, none of whom are connected to each other. Over the course of a single evening, the guests begin dying one by one. It is unknown who the killer is, though, with only ten people on the island, they start pointing fingers at each other. The Menu has eleven dinner guests, each paying $1250 to take a 30-minute ferry to Hawthorn, a critically-acclaimed restaurant on a secluded island, and dine on the fine cuisine prepared by the famous yet enigmatic Chef Slowik (Fiennes) and his staff. There are four couples and a group of three single male work colleagues (Bryce, Soren, and Dave) of a boss who is the leading Hawthorne investor. Unlike the others in the group, they are not there to taste the food so much as to be able to boast that they have been part of a select few to dine at the famed establishment.
We are introduced first to Tyler (Nicholas Hoult – Mad Max: Fury Road, A Single Man), a self-arrogant foodie who is more concerned with not upsetting Chef Slowik than he is in making conversation with his last-second date, Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy – The Northman, Last Night in Soho). Margot is the only guest not on the official list, something that unnerves Elsa (Hong Chau – The Whale, Downsizing), the restaurant captain. He sets the scene by telling Margot (and us) about Hawthorne and Chef Slowik.
I’m not a Fiennes guy. He’s a fine actor, for sure, but I associate his movies with me wanting to take a nap. His films are boring. The Menu is not boring. Its success lies in Fiennes. As Chef Slowik, he’s terrifying. The preview and other promotional materials portray Fiennes as the film’s star. While he is the one who creates the menu and directs both his staff and his guests to do exactly what he wants, when he wants, the lead credits belong to Taylor-Joy.
There will be those who love The Menu and have it at or near the top of their 2022 best movie list. Many will also want to walk out halfway through the movie. I can support each. I found it highly entertaining and original in a year when many fall into one or both categories. It will not land in my end-of-year Top 10 (nor will it come close), but it’s not because the movie was terrible. These types of movies aren’t made for me. However, its execution is mostly well done, and its satire of foodies in general and, particularly, of many of the reality television shows surrounding this topic, including Top Chef, Diners, Chopped, Iron Chef America, Hell’s Kitchen, and more, is on point. If those shows interest you or you are a fan of dark comedies referenced in the opening paragraph of this review, The Menu will not disappoint. However, a population will grow tired of the film’s preposterous absurdity. Please proceed with caution.
Plot 8/10
Character Development 6/10
Character Chemistry 6/10
Acting 8/10
Screenplay 6.5/10
Directing 8/10
Cinematography 8.5/10
Sound 8.5/10
Hook and Reel 10/10
Universal Relevance 8/10
77.5%
C+
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