‘The Menu’ Movie Review: Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes Serve Delectable Fine-Dining Satire
Fine dining culture is frequently associated with small portions, expensive ingredients, and big price tags. Storytellers are finding unique ways to criticize the world in the back of the house, such as in FX’s The Bear. The Menu director Mark Mylod brings Seth Reiss and Will Tracy’s screenplay to life, which satirizes the ego of this world’s consumers and the culinary artists who infuse their entire beings into their food. It’s a wildly entertaining, albeit imperfect comedic thriller with hints of horror.
‘The Menu’ isolates its fine-dining dinner guests
Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) is marvelous at his culinary craft, delivering only the most succulent fine dining experience. The rich and influential are the only folks who get the opportunity to enjoy his food, especially when he took his restaurant to a remote island with a very selective guest list. Slowik put together the greatest menu of his career, but it has some shocking surprises that no one will see coming.
Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) are a young couple with the rare opportunity to experience Slowik’s dining experience along with a wealthy group of guests. Tyler quickly swoons over the chef, for who he has a deep admiration. However, Margot senses that something is seriously wrong with this chef, his kitchen, and the menu he put together.
The year of taking down the rich
Food is merely viewed as sustenance for some, but others admire the art and the science that goes into what makes it to the plate. This disparity is most prominently channeled in The Menu through Margot and Tyler. He treats the dining experience as an almost-spiritual one, quickly taking offense to her casual perception of food. Reiss and Tracy’s screenplay introduces the other dinner guests, although they’re more representative of stereotypical wealthy diners than fully-fleshed characters.
There’s a clear distinction made between the wealthy dinner guests and the service workers who prepare their extravagant meals. Chef Slowik acts as the bridge between the two from the side of the staff, maintaining a level of aggressive professionalism. Meanwhile, Elsa (Hong Chau) acts as their host and watcher throughout their evening, appearing more like a hawk as she observes the guests and eavesdrops on their conversations.
The restaurant’s surroundings hold a mysterious beauty that extends to its operations. Elsa takes the guests on a brief tour through the specific protein preparations, as well as the staff’s sleeping quarters. However, Chef Slowik has his own accommodations that are off-limits to all others, including his employees. The respect and obsession for the food that treads into cult territory apply to the hierarchy of fine dining and beyond.
‘The Menu’ cooks up big laughs
The year 2022 is filled with satire on high society, with Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness also doing so on a cruise for the wealthy. Meanwhile, The Menu serves up its own humorous takedown of the rich. This time, it takes aim at the fine dining industry, its kitchen politics, and the egos of chefs and consumers. This satire is delightfully punchy and effective, delivering big laughs.
Mylod works with a tremendous cast, drawing some charming and zesty performances. Fiennes is pitch-perfect, consistently playing with physicality and word pronunciation for laughs. Nevertheless, he never allows it to get in the way of Chef Slowik’s domineering presence. Meanwhile, Hoult is outstanding, making a smaller role feel rather impactful. Finally, Chau is The Menu‘s shining star. Similar to Fiennes, she walks the line between intimidation and comedy, but she consistently steals scenes.
Reiss and Tracy’s screenplay blends comedy, horror, and thriller components into a story about the power of food and the industry behind it at the highest status. It starts to fizzle out in its final course, where it finally reveals all of its secrets. Character motivations go out the window, and we’re left with messaging at the expense of gratifying storytelling.
Despite its flaws, The Menu serves up a taut laugh riot and a successful takedown of the fine-dining industry and its ego. Similar to Triangle of Sadness, Mylod’s satire is quite heavy-handed, leaving no room for subtlety. Chef Slowik urges his wealthy guests to taste the dishes that he prepared, rather than to eat them. In The Menu‘s case, this is a meal best enjoyed for the sheer volume of laughs and tension, rather than its intricacies.
The Menu begins its service in theaters on Nov. 18.
