THE MENU (2022) is one of those rare surprising movies like Cronenberg’s CRIMES OF THE FUTURE that comes out of nowhere and makes me love film all over again. It’s a great film.
In this film, Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy, who I already like in almost everything she’s in) joins Tyler (Nicholas Hoult, who is really growing on me lately) on a date to a private island whose sole purpose is to house an upscale restaurant catering to the super wealthy. The clientele include a snobby food critic and her editor, a fading movie star, obnoxious tech bros, and others. Chef (Ralph Fiennes), however, has a very special menu planned for these curated guests, each course becoming more sinister.
I can’t go farther than that, as really, there’s so much fun in discovering this film as raw as possible. Suffice to say there is an economic theme in how the haves feed off the labor of the have-nots without appreciating the time, energy, and effort that goes into what they consume so carelessly. But for me, really, this was about humans who consider their work art and face a lifetime of unappreciated work and intense pressure finally simply saying, screw it, I’m done. (As a writer, I can imagine a similar horrific book reading where a writer invites certain reviewers, including that reader who requested a free review copy for a book, read only few pages of it, and then trashed it with a 1-star review on Goodreads without any care for the enormous amount of creative work that went into it). My advice is to put all that in the back of your mind, though, and just enjoy the story of a man hitting a breaking point in a delicious way.
Otherwise, pretty much everything about THE MENU worked for me. The set is understated and elegant, the acting terrific–particularly Fiennes–the food exquisite, the script tight and packed with sharp dialogue, the comedy black as night, and the message provocative. Highly recommended.
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