THE MENU (2022)

Critic No 307

Director: Mark Mylod

Written by: Will Tracy, Seth Reiss

Produced by: Hyperobject Industries, Gary Sanchez Productions

Casts: Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau

Music: Colin Stetson

Language: English

Genre: Comedy, Horror, Thriller

SYNOPSIS: 

A young couple travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared a lavish menu with shocking surprises.

REVIEW:

The film centers around the aforementioned exclusive dining experience, which sees Tyler and Margot joining 10 other extremely rich guests to travel by boat to a private island. Waiting on that island is the enigmatic Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) and his blank-faced, highly trained team, who operate more like an army unit than kitchen staff as they serve the guests a series of incredibly pretentious (and increasingly odd) courses. Things get more and more creepy as the pretentious course comes with a shocking surprise. 

The film did remind me of Luis Brunel’s classic, ‘The Exterminating Angel (1962)’ which also had a similar premise. But of course, ‘The Menu’ is less abstract and the comic beats are quite originally placed, accentuating the pretentious nature of the place (a dig on the fine dining culture) and the entitled people who are on board. But the film fares better as a tightly constructed exercise in horror, like a cross between the mechanized death of a Saw movie and the eat-the-rich grotesquerie of Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989). Margot (excellently played by Anya Taylor-Joy) may be our audience surrogate—a young woman who’d rather have a juicy cheeseburger than a bread-less bread course.

The film keeps you on the edge with its unique visual treatment that makes us feel like watching a culinary show with just a little more drama. Stylishly shot by Peter Deming and racily edited by Christopher Tellefsen, the story feels crisp and sharp despite having 10 main characters. Of course, due to the short length, some characters feel a little underdeveloped and superficial.

Not everything in the world of the chef and the real reason behind the sinister restaurant is fleshed out but I feel that mystery makes it more engaging. Watch out for the intelligently crafted killer ending that finally shifts our empathy toward the group of antagonists and questions the existence of art in this current opinionated, social media-driven world which can easily kill an instinct of artists without understanding the true meaning behind it. 

VERDICT:

‘The Menu’ is a claustrophobic, horror comedy that tastefully presents its satirical ideas on social inequalities with a couple of shocking, unsettling ideas. 

CELLULOID METER- 3.75/5: