“The Menu” Movie Review

 

“The Menu”

Movie Review

"The Menu" is an American dark comedy horror film directed by Mark Milot, and written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Reid Birney, Judith Light, and John Leguizamo.

 

Tyler and his wife Margot Mills take a boat to Hawthorne, an exclusive restaurant owned and operated by celebrity chef Julian Slowik, located on a private island. Other guests at the dinner include Lillian, a food critic, and her editor, Ted. The wealthy couple Richard and Anne; George, a post-prime movie star, and his personal assistant, Felicity; and business partners Soren, Dave, and Bryce.

The restaurant's maître d', Elsa, gives the group a tour of the island, and Margot is not Tyler's designated guest for the evening. At dinner, the first two molecular gastronomy dishes receive mixed reactions from the group. Tyler, a foodie, and fan of Slowik's revels in the experience, but Margot is frustrated by the restaurant's cramped layout. Slowik and Elsa question Margot's presence, but she refuses to share any information about herself.

The monologues with the study and Slovik are very disturbing. The third course, titled "Memories," opens with a monologue by Slovik, recounting a childhood incident in which he defended his mother from an alcoholic father who stabbed him with a pair of scissors. Guests are then served chicken thighs with scissors stuck in the meat and tortillas laser-engraved with evidence of their past mistakes. For the fourth course, called "The Mess", Slovik introduced Jeremy, the sous-chef who designed the dish, explaining that Jeremy had long trained to realize his ambition to become a great chef like Slovik, but was unable to measure up to him. To end the prologue, Jeremy pulls a revolver from his waistband and shoots it in the mouth, causing panic among the guests. When Richard tries to leave the restaurant, Elsa brings up her infidelity and orders the waiter to cut off his left ring finger.

 

Slovik declares that the night's guests are all chosen because of his craftsmanship, his quest for perfection, and his hatred of the rich and those who take advantage of others' hardships. the work. Slowik announces that the night will end with everyone dead, starting with the corrupt "angel investor" who financed the restaurant. Adorned with feathered wings, the "angel investor" is then lowered into the ocean and dives outside the restaurant for guests to see in full view. Since Margot's presence is unplanned, Slowik offers her the option of dying with the crew or the guests. Slowik assumes that Margot is in the service industry and admits that she is an escort hired by Tyler.

The fifth course, "Men’s Folly," is by a female sous chef named Katherine, who describes how Slovik has been trying to sleep with her since she started working at Hawthorne; She stomped on the feet of the penitent Slowich and then gives the male guests 45 seconds head start to escape. The female guests try to convince Catherine to help them, but she replies that she was the one who suggested to Slowik that the dinner ended in a mass murder-suicide. As the men quickly catch up and return to the restaurant, Margot reveals her real name is Erin.

Slovik turns on Tyler and reveals that he was personally invited and knows that the dinner will end in everyone's death, infuriating Erin. Slovik further humiliates Tyler by forcing him to cook a meal in front of the guests and staff, which he eats poorly. Slovik convinces Tyler to commit suicide by hanging himself in a nearby store room. Slowik decides that Erin belongs to the crew and Elsa forgot and asks her to collect the barrel for dessert.

 

Erin sneaks into Slowik's house, which contains a copy of Hawthorne, only to be attacked by Elsa. Erin stabs Elsa in the neck in self-defense. After looking through newspaper clippings of Slowik's past life in the sparsely decorated office, Erin finds a radio, calls for help, and returns to the restaurant. A Coast Guard officer comes off his boat, comforting the guests at gunpoint. The officer then returns to the kitchen disguised as a line chef.

 

At Erin's betrayal, Slowik announces that he has joined the guests, but Erin scoffs at his dishes and complains that she is still hungry. Having earlier seen a photo of Slowik, a young and cheerful man working at a fast food restaurant, Erin asks him for a full American cheeseburger and fries. Slovic accepts the challenge with tears and a smile, preparing the dish to her specifications. Erin takes a bite and compliments his food, asking if she can "go." Slovik wrapped her food and let her go. Resigned to their fate, the other guests quietly encourage Erin to leave. Erin stops a boat nearby and escapes the island.

The dinner ends with a tribute to Slavik s'mores, wrapping guests in coats made of marshmallows and hats made of chocolate. Slovik then sets the entire restaurant on fire, killing the guests, staff, and himself. After her boat crashes, Erin finishes her cheeseburger and watches Hawthorne burn from afar. She takes the evening's printed menu from a goodie bag she's given and uses it to wipe her mouth.

 

With director Marc Milot, co-writer Will Tracy, and legacy veteran writer Seth Reiss coming from the iconic satirical news site The Onion, you might expect the menu to be a satire of the super-rich.

 

Director Marc Milot’s “The Menu” is a satire and is behind the scenes of fine dining, buying completely crazy, avant-garde food concepts, and devoting the crazy hours needed to make these dreams come true. It's undeniably adorable, and only when you tap into it does the bar stay firmly on its feet, plunging you into the horror of being trapped in a lunatic asylum where you're the only one with no hope. Millet and the writing duo laugh and exit the situation, piling brutal twists on the guests and revealing the full extent of The Hawthorne's decay.

 

It's a refreshing approach to a story that could have easily gone for more tired and hackneyed tropes, but it makes it hard to care. One side of this war is grass millionaires, the other is mung beans - whoever loses, the whole world wins. A couple of set pieces get the blood pumping, but it's when the menu goes for brutally dark laughs that it really earns its Michelin stars.

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