Film review: ‘THE MENU’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’
While it doesn’t always hit the mark, in its best moments the jet-black culinary comedy The Menu cleverly (and violently) skewers foodie pretention, the cult of celebrity chefs, the loss of artistic credibility and America’s unspoken class system. There are familiar flavours here with dashes of Agatha Christie, Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Haneke, disturbing dinner party dramas like Luis Bunuel’s The Exterminating Angel and perhaps most of all, Yorgos Lanthimos’ unsettling moral fables but director Mark Mylod has still managed to craft a distinct and often disturbing film.
The Menu sees a group of apparently well-to-do Americans heading to a remote island for an upmarket soirée at renowned and secretive chef Julian Slowik’s (Ralph Fiennes) Restaurant Hawthorne. The group include washed-up movie star (John Leguizamo), a nauseating food critic (Janet McTeer) a trio of arrogant hedge fund bros (Arturo Castro, Mark St. Cyr and Rob Yang) a WASPy older couple (Reed Burney and Judith Light), repulsive foodie fanboy (Nicholas Hoult) and his date for the evening, Margot (Ana Taylor Joy). The guests think they’re in for an evening of fine wining and dining but they soon discover that the oddball chef and his unpleasantly robotic minions have other ideas. With each elaborate course – which the chef introduces with a bit of theatre and increasingly weird and disturbing anecdotes – the night becomes more sinister and it slowly dawns on all assembled that they are part of a bizarre master plan. As the guests either convince themselves they’re witnessing perverse genius or are cowed into silence, only the feisty, unpretentious Margot questions the strange events unfolding and challenges the intense Chef Julian.
Along with several cannibal films, there seems to be a theme this year about dubious consumption. It could be suggested that, in The Menu, this is a commentary on the destructive nature of capitalism, disproportionate wealth and excessive consumerism but the film doesn’t delve too deeply into the sociological implications of upmarket dining. Rather than social commentary, what stands out here are the characters and the way they collide with one another.
Like Michael Hanneke’s Funny Games, the film cleverly ratchets up the tension as various character’s malevolence is revealed. As in Haneke’s film, when people’s situation becomes more dire, we mentally shout at them to stand up and fight back. The only character who looks like doing that is Ana Taylor Joy’s wonderfully ballsy Margot. She reacts how we would expect a real person to when confronted by this strange, threatening environment, the outrageous molecular cuisine and its unhinged creator. Her incredulity and at times aggressive response makes perfect sense and with her performance here, Ana Taylor Joy again shows she’s one of the best actors working today.
Ralph Fiennes is also excellent, reminding us how intimidating he can be on screen. His Chef Julian is clearly a psychopath who seems constantly on the verge of exploding but Fiennes gives him welcome if fleeting touches of vulnerability and humanity. Nicholas Hoult is superbly obnoxious as the wide-eyed wannabe foodie who worships the crazed chef, takes pictures of his food and constantly admonishes Margot for not treating the meal as a religious experience. After his role here and in films like The Favourite, Hoult seems to be the go-to guy for innocent-looking but ultimately despicable characters and a lead role as a serial killer seems inevitable. Among the supporting cast, Janet McTeer is hilariously pretentious as the snobby food critic, Hong Chau superbly officious as the head waitress and John Leguizamo oddly likeable as the buffoonish fading film star.
As much as the strange events taking place here, the film is memorable for its striking look. Mylod cleverly uses the restaurant’s confined space and gleaming angular surfaces to create a threateningly clinical environment that reflects the creepy chef’s obsessive meticulousness.
For most of its 106 minutes The Menu is a very well-constructed and often riveting mix of dark satire and psychological thriller but like the molecular condiments Chef Julian serves, its attempt at social commentary leaves us feeling a little unsatiated.
Nick’s rating: ***1/2
Genre: Drama/ Action/ Black comedy
Classification: MA15+.
Director(s): Mark Mylod.
Release date: 24th Nov 2022.
Running time: 106 mins.
Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.