Who doesn’t love to see the insufferables of the upper class suffer? “The Menu,” a Nov. 18 release directed by Mark Mylod, is a masterful and genre-bending satire. Blood-soaked and full of laughs, the film deviates considerably from Mylod’s last feature film, “What’s Your Number?” (2011), a rom-com whose target audience was people who were violently attracted to early-2010s Chris Evans. This time, Mylod has cooked up a fantastic concoction of pure and brutal fun.
“The Menu” takes place in the fanciest of restaurants on an isolated island inhabited by the decorated Chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) and his cult-like staff. The guests, a comically horrible hodgepodge including Wall Street narcissists, vain food critics, obsessive fan boys and creepy old men are in for much more than the five-star dining experience they anticipated upon boarding the luxurious ferry ride to the island. The only problem is Margot Mills (Anya Taylor-Joy), just a regular girl who’s only there because Tyler’s (Nicholas Hoult) initial date canceled last minute. Unlike the other guests, Margot is not part of the menu, and thus chaos ensues.
A teaspoon of horror, a dash of thriller, a pinch of comedy and a cup of its own secret sauce is the recipe for the genre-concoction that is “The Menu.” The film uses all one hundred and seven of its minutes tastefully, never letting a scene drag on and never feeling rushed by its own mischief. Instead, the movie’s pace feels like a carefully warped unfolding of an evening dinner. But unlike the usual fine dining experience, blood is shed, triggers are pulled and words are hurled around the room like raw potatoes. The film’s runtime is arranged into several “courses” which hint toward the Chef’s plans for the guests as well as the actual food they are served. “The Menu” refuses to be held down by a single genre or label, and crafts its own unique tone that is assisted wonderfully by the isolated island setting of the movie. The viewer is never introduced to the outside world in any way, which feels both claustrophobic and relaxing — we are somewhere new. Mylod slices and dices influences of all kinds of different films and puts them together to create a sarcastically dramatic satire with enough death and chaos to keep any viewer entertained all the way up to its final course.
Another success of “The Menu” is its sublime characterization as well as its impressive casting. Due to its small cast, each character is developed just enough to make a viewer hate them for a specifically justified reason that all boils down to the same source: money. Whether it be the pretentious poise and faux-intellectual jargon of a renowned food critic (Janet McTeer) or the washed-up overcompensation of a once-famous movie star (John Leguizamo), the characters are all well-written halfwits that make us hate everything rich and powerful — which is exactly what the film wants. That is, except for Margot Mills. She is witty, stunning and, most of all, normal, and a viewer can’t help but root for her in the face of a deranged chef and his yes-men staff. Taylor-Joy is the perfect person for the role, as her subtle brilliance and undeniable charisma carry the film for its entire runtime. Fiennes also makes an incredible pro-gone-rogue as the angular and harsh look of his face matches the fiery eye-twitches and stoic, monotonous tone of his character, the Chef. Not to mention the rest of the cast, who are all quite skilled at being hateable. Altogether, the casting and screenplay come together to craft a wonderfully satirical yet ominous tone.
The film astounds in its subtleties, as well. Each “course,” or section of the movie is introduced with a slow-mo close up of a dish that looks straight out of “MasterChef,” in combination with a script-font dish title and list of ingredients, which often deviate from the norm by including humorous tidbits and punny names. This eclectic quality of the film yields interesting comedic relief while also introducing an almost-breaking of the fourth wall, a twist on a popular trend in contemporary movies and television. In addition, the film’s color palette has an art-deco vibrance to it, which feels fitting for the wealthy yet critical tone of the film as a whole.
Although the film is a master class, there is something just a little off about the taste it leaves in your mouth. The irony of its existence at all is something to highlight. The film is directed by a rich white man who isn’t quite in touch with the working class, and a big-budget movie like this probably took a lot of privileged persuasion — or should I just say money — to get the script off the ground. This is apparent in very subtle slip-ups in dialogue and that’s about it, but still, it leaves something missing. Perhaps it just needs a little salt.
Regardless, “The Menu” offers an intense and memorable experience similar to that of a Michelin star restaurant — just watch your back for psychopaths and murderers.
