Directed by Succession’s Mark Mylod, The Menu is the latest instalment of the so-called ‘eat the rich’ phenomenon that is currently sweeping the media with shows like The White Lotus and films like Glass Onion.
Mylod however, takes the ‘eating’ part of that phrase much further, dipping into yet another popular genre at the moment, cooking and fine-dining as seen in shows like The Bear and films like Boiling Point. You could say that The Menu has all the right ingredients for a great film.
The Menu follows Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy), the last minute date of obsessive foodie, and Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) as they embark on an elaborate tasting menu from the twisted mind of Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes).
The evening begins as a pretentious affair with courses such as the ‘breadless bread course’ but gradually makes its way into much more threatening territory as Slowik reveals himself to be a controlling psychopath with a disturbing plan for the meal.
Reviews have been mixed but nearly everyone who has seen this film is in agreement about the extraordinary performances from the entire cast. Standout performances for me were Anya Taylor-Joy, who never fails to amaze, Ralph Fiennes, whose cold demeanour transformed a potentially one-dimensional character into a truly chilling antagonist and Hong Chau whose vulnerable yet stoic Elsa was fantastically compelling.
The tone of The Menu fluctuates constantly, eliciting laughter, disgust, audible gasps, sympathy, tension and anger to name a few. Some have criticised this but I personally found it to be refreshing and it was interesting to see how you could be laughing one minute and utterly traumatised the next.
The complexity of the characters and the quality of acting also made it possible to simultaneously hate and pity every single one of them from Margot and Elsa to the finance bros and even to Slowik himself. So, whilst clearly a criticism of over-consumption and people with more money than sense, Mylod is able to create a really complex story that isn’t quite as simple as ‘eat the rich’.
When I first watched The Menu, I was expecting a gory show-down and was slightly disappointed when this wasn’t fulfilled. Much like Ari Aster’s Midsommar. The Menu is consistently unsettling in a very controlled way that, on further evaluation I think would actually be undercut by a bloody show-down.
That’s not to say that the film isn’t gory or that it doesn’t have a satisfying ending, just that it is more of a psychological thriller than a straight-forward horror film which some may like and others may not. So, whilst it may not be to everyone’s tastes, I found The Menu to be compelling, complex and exquisitely acted.
4/5