The Menu

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"The Menu is one of the biggest personal disappointments of the year.

Mark Mylod's film boasts inspired performances by the entire cast - Ralph Fiennes and Nicholas Hoult stand out - and some clever satirical moments, but pretty much nothing else works. Humor falls completely flat - except for the sequences à la Masterchef Australia. Screenplay follows surprisingly generic paths, being a mystery without any minimally impactful shock. Characters lack depth, and the anti-elite message is too evident and insignificant.

It should still get an overall positive reception."

Rating: C-

Arch-foodie "Tyler" (Nicholas Hoult) and his girlfriend "Margot" (Anya Taylor-Joy) are off to dine in a restaurant without parallel. Based on an island of just twelve acres, they join a collection of wealthy and influential people for what has been defined as experience to die for! Upon arrival, we discover that "Margot" was not the originally intended guest of her companion - so first question... Who is she? Next question - why does it seem to matter so much to the fastidious and frankly rather menacing chef "Slowik" (Ralph Fiennes) and his assistant "Elsa" (Hong Chau) who looks like she used "Rosa Klebb" as a role model? As the dinner progresses it becomes quite clear that the menu is not just about the exquisitely prepared and presented ...

The Menu began with a tone and tension that made me want more but ultimately ended with confusion and disappointment.

The hype for The Menu intrigued me. The reviews celebrated its genius. So I had to see it. And when I sat in the theater and the credits began to roll, all o could say was, "Huh?" The Menu starts with Ready or Not vibes with a fish-out-of-water real-world character who ends up at a fancy dinner with a collection of high society foodies and critics. The trailer gave me expectations of cannibalism cult or Most Dangerous Game-type plots, but instead, nothing really happened. I think I understood what The Menu was trying to convey with its deeper meaning, but I still came up disappointed. Anya Taylor-Joy and the rest of t...

The Menu was one of the most unique thriller experiences of the year! The setup is fantastic, and the story gives you just enough information to intrigue even though the story path is somewhat generic. It is dark, honest, and quite hilarious. This unique blend created a thriller like no other.

The performances were great. Anya Taylor-Joy was brilliant and is cementing herself as one of the best actresses of the decade. Nicholas Hoult was hilarious in such a subtle way that never takes away from the tense scenes at play. Ralph Fiennes is haunting but also sympathetic, making him a very interesting and genuine antagonist.

This was such an amazing film and another smash entry into horror palooza that is 2022.

Score: 86% | Verdict: Excellent

Pretty good but I'm also a little disappointed by it. I really liked the cast and the acting (Nicholas Hoult and Ralph Fiennes were especially good). The story was entertaining enough but I didn't quite buy into it all. It's not as sharp or smart as it could be. It may be that I recently watched "Triangle of Sadness" and really enjoyed the humour and observations on the rich in that film and "The Menu" doesn't quite reach these heights in my opinion. It's still worth watching, with some good reveals and surprises throughout.

"You, Margot from Nebraska (Anya Taylor-Joy), you've betrayed our sacred bond of trust. And you've shown your craft to be careless. I was wrong. You're an eater. You're a taker. You're very hard to look at. And you're no Julia Roberts."

Jim Jones; Executive Chef

Going to a once-in-a-lifetime tasting at a restaurant headed by one of (if not the) most renowned chefs in the world sounds like a dream come true to any foodie. (Myself included, albeit vicariously via the Food Network) Two of these lucky guests are Tyler (played by Nicholas Hoult), and Margot (played by Anya Taylor-Joy).

The issue is, something is already not right. No, it's not obvious; at least not to normal people like you and me. Elsa (played by Hong Chau) picked up on it, but she isn't like us. As more and more guest arrive, someone isn't supposed to be there... Ah, don't worry, the feeling will pass. After all, the tasting is just about to start...

This is when we meet the ex...

The Menu is a film defined by one key ingredient, the performance of Ralph Fiennes. His cold, biting acerbic chef, whose every word and nuance expresses a certain irony and a gradually building threat, is compelling.

Frankly, it was Fiennes lynch pin performance that kept me watching The Menu. Had it been a less actor, I might well have walked away. Which brings me to the script. A predictable idea, with a certain promise that's far too loosely executed. The result is a plot that has more than a few dead ends and lacks a certain consistency and credulity. Its not awful, not at all. That said, with a more consideration and tightening of plot elements, it could have been so much more.

In summary, if The Menu is remembered for anything...

This was my actual last straw with IMDb... I guess you have to like this one or else. And by that I mean they are purging all the bad reviews.

So, this is a movie about pretentious people, for pretentious people, that are killed by pretentious people so they can walk away feeling deep.

From the start you know what is going to happen, because it's basically the same thing that always happens on ominous deserted islands... and the "they eat the diners" thing was removed because one of the couples were regular diners there.

It sort of gives you only one plot direction made clear by the fanaticism of the cult of cooks.

So there wasn't any guess work that needed to be done, and from the start you knew which character was going to li...

The Menu takes anti capitalism and serves it up with a sprinkle or two of violence delivered on a plate by a perfectionist, cult leading chef. Mark Mylod produces a horror comedy that takes shots at culinary snobbery as well as performance art. 

Margot ( Anya Taylor-Joy ) and her supposed boyfriend Tyler (Nicholas Hoult ) take a boat, along with a number of other diners, to a remote Restaurant called Hawthorn situated on a private Island. The restaurants avant garde head chef ( Ralph Fines ) sells both art and home grown, self produced food to a select group of high earning customers with quality and presentation far above any other culinary experience. As the guests arrive they are first subjected to a tour of the Island to see the prod...

This movie is not nearly as clever as it thinks it is. Without giving anything away, the plot is a unique one and the main villain's motivation is original, but the movie spoils everything by treating the audience like idiots.

One example (and this is a spoiler, albeit a small one, so skip this paragraph if you still want to watch the movie) is when one character gets his finger chopped off. This was because he told his wife he was going to 'handle' the situation, and one of the baddies responded by asking 'with which hand?' When he didn't reply, she said 'left hand, ring finger' and one of the other baddies proceeded to chop said finger off.

Now that all sounds very clever (handle/hand - what a pun!) if you don't think about it too...

Late to the party with this one! Probably a party to avoid anyway...

'The Menu' is a film deserving of hype. It's very good, with some strong storytelling and excellent cast showings. Anya Taylor-Joy continues to be a very reliable actress, yet to dislike a performance from her. Ralph Fiennes, meanwhile, feels perfect for the role of Chef.

Hong Chau sticks out too, while it was good to see Paul Adelstein act again - not seen him in anything since 'Prison Break', well aside from a bit part in his (underrated) 'Imposters' show. The movie sets an nice tone, it isn't all that unpredictable (though is in a few moments, tbf) but still manages to build good tension throughout.

As someone who hadn't seen either but has now at least seen on...