Review ‘The Menu’
The Menu will leave you feeling hungry, un-easy but entertained and lots to talk about
The foodies have been waiting for this one. Mark Mylod’s The Menu takes audiences for a thrill ride and will keep you keeping guessing on what’s next on the menu? Right from the start we see mega-foodie Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) with his date Margot (Anya-Joy Taylor) heading to catch a boat to an exclusive invite only restaurant Hawthorn, located on a small island, only accessible by boat. The invite list include some of the wealthiest elites in the world – all to spend an evening worth $1,250 with world-renowned American chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes).
The Menu focuses on the different types of diners you would find at a restaurant, Tyler who must let the camera eat first, and worships celebrity chef Slowik, the trio business bros hat eat at a renowned placed just for the status alone, the pretentious food critic, a movie star, and a high society type couple who regularly dine at fine cuisine restaurants. Then you have Margot, who was a last minute addition because Tyler’s original date didn’t show up, who is oblivious to the norms of a fine dining restaurant. She sees a tiny plate and cracks a joke that this isn’t food, there’s no bread.
The cinematography and capturing the details of Haute Cuisine is bound to make your mouth watering. It’s like a shot out of Chef’s Table, you can’t help but feeling hungry. As Slowik would say, do not eat, but taste. Whenever a new course is introduced, it keeps the audience engaged and guessing on what’s going to happen next. The Menu does a fantastic job exploring the world of givers and takers with incorporating the idea of fine-cuisine and touching pieces of capitalism, class warfare and more. With a perfect pace of plot development that turns into a sadistic horror film. Culinary and violent horror comedy is not something you commonly see in films these days.
In conclusion, it’s hard to get into details without ruining the whole storyline, but this film is a must see. Especially for foodies, it will take you for a joy ride, and it will definitely leave you craving a cheeseburger. The Menu is definitely one of my favourite films of the year with the perfect pairing of darkness and humor.
Watch the trailer for The Menu below
The Menu first permeried at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept 10, 2022
Searchlight Pictures releases The Menu in theatres on Nov 18, 2022
