Mark Reviews Movies: THE MENU

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Review by Mark Dujsik | November 17, 2022

An admirably wicked and angry comedy, The Menu offers little mercy in its twisted game of culture war and class struggle. The film, co-written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, mainly tackles the commodification of art, which probably makes the affair sound stuffier and more serious-minded than it actually is. To be clear, it's dealing with big ideas, but the filmmakers are mostly out to poke fun of and poke holes into the thinking of those who take art too seriously, don't take it seriously enough, and think they could do as well as or better than someone who actually knows what he or she is doing.

Director Mark Mylod's film is a bit of a thematic mess, in other words, but then again, that's part of the point, it seems. After all, one of the menu items on the exclusive dining experience that makes up the foundation of the narrative includes a meal that's entitled "The Mess." Considering how that particular episode unfolds, though, maybe the messiness isn't part of the point.

All of this might exist simply to shock us into laughter, horror, dread, and confusion. The film definitely wants us to ask those big questions about the nature of art, its commercialization, and our relationship with it as an act of creative expression and a commercial enterprise. There's an obvious temptation to dive into those concepts and pick apart the film's shortcomings in addressing them. To give into that impulse, though, might make one just as pompous as some of the characters here. Then again, to ignore it entirely might make one just as dull as some of the others in this story.

Anyway, the film is funny and daring and intelligent. That's what matters the most.

The plot revolves around an enigmatically exclusive restaurant, housed on a remote island and charging quite the fee to partake in the cuisine. Guests are shuttled to the place by boat, which leaves them behind for the duration of the four-hour-or-so meal experience. Only one character seems to find any of this odd and a bit sinister, but since the rest of the diners have the money and influence to be afforded such a meal, they're probably under the impression that their financial situation and power would protect them from just about anything.

The hesitant one is Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy), who has been invited to the restaurant by her date Tyler (Nicholas Hoult, very funny as his character smiles his way through a horror show), a foodie who has longed to eat at this place for quite a while. He saved up the money for himself and a partner, and since her name isn't on the reservation list, Tyler's partner was clearly meant to be someone else.

Other diners boarding the boat include a faded movie star (played by John Leguizamo), a wealthy man named Richard (Reed Birney) and his wife Anne (Judith Light), and Lillian (Janet McTeer), a food critic who helped the chef's career rise to some prominence. There are others taking the trip, of course—the movie star's personal assistant Felicity (Aimee Carrero), the critic's editor Ted (Paul Adelstein), and a trio of frat boy-like workers in the financial sector. They mostly keep themselves, though, except for how the movie star tries to look cool in front of the younger guys and Margot seems to know Richard, who's intentionally avoiding her.

The real star of the show, though, is the man planning the meal and overseeing its preparation. He's the famous Chef Slowik, played by Ralph Fiennes in a subtly imposing performance. With him in the kitchen is a team of obedient cooks, shouting affirmatives and even their love for their boss, and overseeing the diners and wait staff is no-nonsense maître d' Elsa, played by an unflappably deadpan Hong Chau.

As the guests are served course after course, the story functions both as a thriller, as little details of mystery gradually reveal a countdown to a potential fatal deadline to the meal, and as a dark comedy, as the diners' secrets (Homemade tortillas are engraved with damning evidence) and the chef's own (the identity of the older woman, drinking herself into oblivion in the corner, for example) are put on display. Without giving away the specifics, Slowik's scheme is one of revenge—against those who made him the man and chef he is, those who personally neglected and professionally celebrated him, those who think they could live up to his standards, or those who just unwittingly made for a bad day off one time. It's actually much bleaker than that, but the narrative's surprises and promises are best left to be discovered.

At the core of the conflict in his plan is a battle between the "givers," those who create meals and make food and provide services in general, and the "takers," the people sitting at the tables and more or less accepting what Slowik literally dishes out to them. The courses are subversive at first, but with moments of violent suddenness, they become far more disturbing. Mylod balances the inescapable horror and the almost absurdist comedy of the scenario with real skill.

Ultimately, the film doesn't amount to much thematically, since the targets of its satire are so numerous and diverse, Slowik's plan is inconsistent enough that his apparent insanity and the story's over-the-top nature seem to give everything ample wiggle room, and there's not really some definitive point to the jokes and attacks. The Menu seems to have that covered, too, if one character's final act of defiance is any indication. What's the point of big ideas and highfalutin concepts if the presentation of them isn't enjoyable in some fundamental way? This film is, to be sure, in cruelly entertaining fashion.

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