Is being a douchebag a crime? Is being a snob a crime? Is being mediocre a crime? Is making bad art a crime? Is being a “bro” a crime? Would you punish these things … if you could? And how would you punish them … assuming you would?
In recent years, the movies have tempted us with foodie films – Chef and Burnt and Ratatouille and Julia & Julia and No Reservations and The Hundred–Foot Journey … and those are just the recent ones of note. Our modern love affair with food has yielded a generous portion of food-based art. Of course, recent human history has yielded an unprecedented throng of doomsday horror as well. So, hey, why not combine the two in the unique foodie horror comedy, The Menu?
The scene is a compound on a small island only serviceable by boat –for young playing at home: the key to almost all good horror is geographic isolation- the purpose of the island is to house, staff, and keep the exclusive Hawthorne restaurant. At $1,250/patron, The Hawthorne provides a unique dining experience … and you might even find that price tag cheap after seeing what the guests endure. The imported guests are a “Gilligan’s Island” collection of notable mediocrity – the snobby professional food critic, the washed-up actor, the tired prestige couple, the trio of coke-sniffin’ Wall Street wannabros, and our focal couple, the ultimate foodie fanboy, Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), and the escort he wasn’t suppose to escort, Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy).
The seafoam-laced oyster-shell roe appetizer on the boat over inspires the phrase “mouth-feels” from Tyler. Yes, at this point, we want to slap Tyler. Don’t worry; the film will do it for us.
The head chef at Hawthorne is Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) who announces every plot point with a single loud clap that will draw the attention of all both on-screen and off. As Tyler narrates, Julian is as much story-teller as
head chef and tonight is going to be a big night. When the sous chef commits public suicide for Course #3, we are just getting started. Chef Slowik appears at first as a disinterested and almost aloof host, but nothing could be further from the truth. Everything about this meal has been planned as much as it is possible to do so.
The Menu is almost as darkly humorous as it is disturbing. This film that is well aware of the idea that getting to the point where you are snotty about food is both a badge of honor and a badge of disgrace. I truly respected the film for that and found it hilarious when it both punched up and punched down. The trick is great screenwriting and great editing. Good luck finding one, let alone both. The Menu is a film that knows a fish egg emulsifier can be an instrument of both passion and pretension while similarly knowing that a cheeseburger can be a meal representing both Neanderthalism and divinity.
This film is a near-perfect shredding of shlock cooking reality shows. You want real tension? How about courses that are literally life-or-death? This is a great screenplay and a fun watch for those who both love food too much and those who scorn foodies. This has been a darn good year for horror – do we have COVID to thank for that? Trump? Republicans in general? – I do not know, but the genre needed a facelift and this year with the help of Barbarian, Nope, The Black Phone, Men, X, Pearl, Titane, Crimes of the Future, Fresh, Bodies (cubed), and now The Menu, it got one.
It is a horror of forks, spoons and knives
Where murder comes garnished with chives
There won’t be a reprieve
Through nine courses, I believe
Hope I die before the check arrives
Rated R, 107 Minutes
Director: Mark Mylod
Writer: Seth Reiss, Will Tracy
Genre: Both foodie and anti-foodie; it’s honestly hard to tell
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of black comedy
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The easily offended
