The Menu
The Menu follows a group of elites as they go to an island to partake in an exclusive meal by master chef, Chef Slowick (Ralph Fiennes) and insanity ensues. This film is, by far, my favorite 2022 film. While I am a sucker for a good food film, this one takes it to a new level. The acting is solid, the visuals are cultivated and savory, and very few beats are missed.
Pros: The visuals in the film are stunning. The film uses the concept of a five course meal to move the story forward. As each meal is introduced, the title of the meal and a description is shown across the screen, and as madness takes hold of the story, these titles and descriptions reflect that. Now, some might think this is a cheap “cooking show” way of moving the story forward, not so. The way it is used invokes a sense of wonder and appreciation for the food and then becomes an arbiter of foreboding and suspense. Furthermore, the food itself is both a feast for the eyes, and eventually a harbinger of horror. The film brought in a professional master chef to make sure the kitchen and each meal was accurate to the level they were emulating, and this was clearly money well spent. Each meal is beautiful and at the end of the film, the final meal’s beauty becomes a thing of tragedy and madness.
Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy in The Menu (2022)
Cons: Overall, the film runs as smooth as a five star kitchen, with only a couple of exceptions. As the film progresses, the filmmakers do a great job of diving enough into each character’s lives to explain the “sins” that the chef wants to pushish. The exception is with Margo (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Elsa (Hong Chau) in two specific scenes. The story heavily indicates that Margo is an escort of sorts as she is tied to two of the male characters, this is well implemented, but not emphasized too much to take away from the story. Where the film errors is when they attempt to go further into Margo’s backstory and she makes the comment that “Margo” is not even her real name. Now this could have many implications, but it doesn’t seem to be important to the story at large, making the audience wonder why that line wasn’t cut. Another scene is where Margo and Elsa are fighting in Chef Slowick’s room. Elsa makes the comment that Margo “will not replace [her]”. Now this indicates that Elsa feels threatened by Margo, but it is not set up well. At this point in the film, Slowick is highly interested in Margo, but it is very clear he is interested in her because she was a change to his master plan, and he is trying to find a way to either fit her in or cut her out of the plan. Neither scene greatly affects the overall film, but they are definitely two scenes that could have been trimmed or written slightly differently..
Best Performance: Like a well run kitchen, every actor in this film is hitting their marks and functioning to elevate the story and tension surrounding it. Ralph Fiennes, now nominated for a Golden Globe for this performance, is one of the stand out performances. Throughout the film, Fiennes is commanding his kitchen with an iron fist, and his kitchen staff is loyal to him to literal death. This kind of loyalty is often found in kitchens when aspiring chefs are wanting to learn under the great chefs of the time, which Chef Slowick clearly is when he can charge $1,250 a plate. Fiennesnot only holds a commanding presence, but also an underlying madness. As the story progresses, the characters are pulled into more harrowing situations, but Chef Slowick remains calm and unwavering, indicative of someone bordering on sociopathic madness. The terror Fiennesholds by the end of the film is one the many reasons this film is so successful.
Nicholas Hoult and Anya Taylor-Joy in The Menu (2022)