Movie Cover

You will eat less than you desire and more than you deserve.

# Review

The Menu is a satirical thriller about fine-dining; it follows a group of diners who arrive on an island to experience a tasting menu like no other.

It’s always hard to do a good horror comedy and The Menu nailed it. The characters were hilarious, ranging from the pretentious food critic Lillian Bloom (Janet McTeer) to the pathetic foodie Tyler Ledford (Nicholas Hoult). The interactions and dialogues between the characters were immensely entertaining. My favourite characters, though, were by far Ralph Fiennes’ portrayal of the head chef Julian Slowik and Anya Taylor-Joy’s portrayal of Margot Mills, Tyler’s date for the evening. Fiennes’ Slowik and Taylor-Joy’s Margot provided the bulk of the horror in the horror comedy, with the rest of the cast largely being foils to them. The chefs and staff, especially Elsa (Hong Chau) and Felicity (Christina Brucato), are (like most staff at restaurants) unsung heroes on making the film more unsettling as well.

This movie was extremely tasteful both in its setting and its costume design. The music by Colin Stetson quickly snapped the atmosphere from jovial to tense while the story was interesting and disturbing. I hate to admit it but I found many of the characters to be relatable in a way; for instance, I also worked (and dined out) in finance and from time to time, I could be overly intellectual about the odd tasting menu I indulge in. This film was dead-on with its criticism of fine-dining and I definitely left the film not only entertained but also more self aware.

# Conclusion

I don't know why this film wasn't nominated for an Oscar.

# Overall rating: 8.3

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