The Menu may seem like a very on-the-nose eat-the-rich story considering the presentation. Thankfully, it becomes a far more satiating narrative beyond watching wealthy weirdos cower and bicker as their lives come to bitter ends. It’s a decadent and emotional rollercoaster of terror that taps into desires and disillusionment with life’s progress. It’s also wickedly funny and vicious in its dangerous dinner presentation.
The Foodie Fools
The ensemble cast is perfectly staged for a slew of satirical jabs at the elite. Nicholas Hoult plays Tyler, an eccentric and annoying food fan who is way too into Instagramming his every elaborate meal. His date is Margot, an unimpressed woman played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Their relationship doesn’t seem genuine considering how Tyler is showing more flirting with food than his date.
Tyler’s world of upper-class foodies is divulged to Margot as describes each guest to a scrumptious island dinner. There’s the stuffy food critic (Janet McTeer), her sycophant lawyer (Paul Adelstein), the washed-up movie star (John Leguizamo), a corrupt politician (Reed Birney), and a trio of scummy do-you-know-who-my-dad-is bros (Arturo Castro, Mark St. Cyr, Rob Yang). Some have dates and some awkwardly know each other.
The Island of Deadly Dinners
All of these guests are invited to a secluded island for an elaborate meal constructed by the celebrated chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). Julian runs a tight ship and devotes himself to serving up the best food ever made. His staff is highly skilled and attentive, as with his calm and stern second-in-command Elsa (Hong Chau).
Julian draws attention with his loud claps that hush the room. He becomes the showman for the evening, constructing a meal that plays out with a theme. This is his usual routine, as Tyler so obnoxiously points out to Margot. What the guests don’t know is that this meal will be different.
Julian slowly comes to reveal that his multi-course dinner will be one of life, death, and humility. Having grown weary of his lifestyle and the rich guests he caters to, Julian doesn’t just want the rich to die but suffer before their ultimate demise. His plans are so elaborate that he does little to cover up his true intentions. That being said, he and Elsa love to play around with the guests as they grow frustrated with their bigger questions going unanswered.
Dark Absurdity
For as vicious as this narrative becomes, The Menu has a savagely wicked sense of humor. The dinner is treated with a harsh bluntness that makes it all the more hilarious, where Tyler and the food critic speak more as outside observers than victims of a trap. The menu itself even becomes a joke with highlights of certain deaths attributed to the meal and some meals bluntly labeled as bullshit.
Ralph Fiennes is such a master of playing with the sinister and silly in this role. His bold nature makes him as intimidating as he is comical. During one of the first confessions about his true intentions for the guests, one of them asks what they’ve done wrong compared to the others. Julian asks if she paid any student loans for the expensive college she attended. When she answers no, he gives the best response: “Sorry, you’re dying tonight.”
Rich Eating Rich While Poor Gets a To-Go Bag
Director Mark Mylod is no stranger to staging brutal high-class satire, given his work on TV’s Succession. What makes this film so unique is how it presents an erosion of dreams that brings someone as powerful as Julian to an epiphany of cleaning his soul of the grime that is upper-class society. That being said, even he has his blinders for trying to do the questionably right motive in literally burning down his empire and those who feed at his table.
I loved how Julian’s motivations range from concern for his art to bitterness over the business to something as simple as being appalled by a movie. While it’d be easy to sympathize with his desire to burn it all down, he’s still petty enough to find even the tiniest flaws a hindrance to society. He’s not just a dude who despises the rich; he’s a rich nihilist himself that rather go scorched-earth on society (and does so quite literally by the finale).
Thankfully, the film never wants us to immediately side with Julian’s meandering on meaninglessness. The story takes an engrossing turn when the only way out seems to be an appeal to simplicity and a nostalgic twinge for an innocent past. It also leads to a satisfying ending that is sure to make one hungry for a double feature with Ready or Not.
Careful, It’s Brutal
The film doesn’t hold back on the violence. Appendages are removed, brains are blown out, bodies are burned, and even suicide is on the menu. The direction even sets up for certain scenes where you know somebody in that room is going to die. And yet you can’t help but watch with anticipation how Julian will weave this into his deadly performance.
The violence is so delicious for carrying such a deep disgust, especially with Julian voluntarily placing himself on the slab as well. One part of the dinner involves the men being given a chance to escape until they’re caught by Julian’s men. The last one caught gets a special prize which is so absurd I dare not reveal.
Conclusion: The Menu
The Menu is a masterfully dark comedy severed extra vicious and deviously delicious. The cast is all in top form as is the brutal thematic elements at play. Playing with the pretentious has never been more fun as Fiennes goes full killer and Taylor-Joy turns unlikely hero for something as simple as a cheeseburger. It’s a wickedly wondrous class divide film that is easily one of the best films of 2022 if not for the stellar cast than for the immaculate balance of humor and horror while watching elites roast in more ways than one.
What did you think of The Menu? Was it funny or was it scary? Let us know in the comments below.
The Menu is currently playing in theaters.
Watch The Menu
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