The Menu (Mini-Review)

The Menu is a satirical look at fine dining. Tyler takes his girlfriend out on a date to a very exclusive restaurant. Margot, unlike her boyfriend, is not interested in Hawthorne at all. She also doesn't consider Julian Slowik, the head chef of the restaurant, a god-like being. The evening starts off normal but things quickly go from calm to horrific. The Menu was released in 2022. It was directed by Mark Mylod. It stars Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, and Hong Chau.

There is no post-credits to this movie. That is just fine as the images of s'mores and a cheeseburger are enough. Anything else would have been a little too hard to handle.

This movie manages to be extremely funny while also tense. A lot of the humor comes from how fine dining is perceived by people. Tyler is enamored by Julian Slowik and considers himself to be at the same level. Every dish that is served is praised by him and he overlooks various things due to his obsession. Margot is the opposite. She isn't afraid to call various dishes pretentious and even resists eating for a good majority of the film.

Julian Slowik shows how cooking on the level of fine dining can tear at a person. Only near the end of the film does he let out a smile. This due to the fact that while he is a professional to the extreme, he has been unhappy cooking for a long time. Though I don't cook, sometimes it feels that writing can tear the deepest parts of me. Hence trying out new things from time to time.

No one is at Hawthorne by accident. Julian, like in his cooking, has expertly planned everything to go a certain way. Why everyone is invited is gradually answered. There are some twists and turns that are really shocking. And not shocking for shock's sake, but because the reveals answers questions. As I like to keep these mini-reviews spoiler free as possible, I can't talk about this part in too much detail. But certain characters have their traits explained more thoroughly due to the twists. I know at one reveal I felt all of the pieces fall together and finally make sense.

I have been looking forward to this movie ever since I saw the teaser trailer in theaters. That one teaser made me know this movie was something special. I loved that Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Nicholas Hoult were in it. I loved that there was a mystery that needed solving.

When the patrons arrived on the island I started to look for clues. One brief moment I heavily focused on was the sight of crabs eating a carcass. Or at least I think it was a carcass. Again, it was only a brief moment and there's no rewind feature in a movie theater. But it provided the lens for how I would view the rest of the film. This because though the moment was brief, something felt utterly compelling about it.

I would highly recommend The Menu to those looking for an intense mystery. I would also highly recommend The Menu to those looking for a good horror movie. Finally, I would highly recommend The Menu to those looking for a satire with teeth.