The Menu (2022)
When one eats at a restaurant, what is it that they expect? Do they expect to get challenged or rewarded for their payment and allowance of time? What is the responsibility of the chef? Is it to satisfy the customers desire or is it to push back and make a statement of their own? Mark Mylod's The Menu is the newest feature in a line of projects examining the relationship between the privileged and the poor through dark and twisted subject matter. Featuring a cast of privileged individuals who get invited to dine at celebrity chef Julian Slowik's exclusive private island restaurant Hawthorne. There, the guests are treated to a daring and challenging meal that sees them bite off way more than they can swallow. Filled with flashy dialogue and twisted morals, The Menu is food that looks better as a social media post than an actual meal with a surprising lack of follow-through and purpose when one peels back even the initial layer of what the film presents.
The Menu wears its social commentary on its sleeve in a way that is easily digestible and acceptable. Just like how the diners in the film are presently aware of a deeper social relevance to the courses they are consuming, the audience cannot help but be aware of the film's ideas on privilege and consumer culture. The connection between food and the popular concept of eating the rich is another obvious connection for the film. While this is far from being inherently bad, social relevance should be encouraged within film and has been used correctly by countless other projects in 2022 alone, The Menu represents the worst of this connection. The social commentary within The Menu is lazy and incoherent. At every turn of analysis, contradictions and even problematic perspectives are found. There is a divide between the privileged and the unprivileged, the customers and the chefs. This divide however is poked and muddled for the sake of traditional horror narratives that threaten to undercut the entire project's thesis.
The biggest point of confusion comes in the form of Margot Mills (Anya Taylor-Joy). Mills was not originally scheduled to be at this dinner and places the entire concept of the evening at risk for Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) and his chefs. This character is meant in narrative to disrupt and challenge Slowik and his ideals. While this face off has its moments, mainly thanks to the performances behind each figure, it is an act of irreversible diastrophism for the social commentary of the film. The feature is never able to recover and ends up failing to provide anything substantial or new for the conversation it is engaging in. While the courses might look delicious on the outside and claim to hold some deeper poignancy, when one actually bites into the course it ends up being remarkably stale. It doesn't help that the film then decides to inject misplaced comedy that seems to openly trivialize even its own darker moments, therefore killing off nearly any gravitas found within these segments.
The one force truly pushing for excellence in this kitchen is clearly Ralph Fiennes. Wicked and absolutely demanding of attention, Fiennes gives a crafted and powerful performance. It is sad that in opposition to Fiennes is Anya Taylor-Joy who struggles greatly to match the intensity and venom of her opponent. Especially neutered due to her more generic final girl narrative that is obvious from the first few frames of the feature, her character is wildly underdeveloped with the performance itself struggling to find anything to latch onto as strength or personality. She is supposed to be a rebel against the system, but comes off as lost and empty. The rest of the cast turn out acceptable performances but are almost completely single note with little of depth or defiance of expectations.
The world itself is equally hollow. The film rushes through its set up with the audience getting little understanding of the situation they find themselves in or details to be engaged by. There is an uncomfortable energy and spirit to this world, but it never feels explored or justified. The Menu is a film that builds tension for the sake of building tension, not because it makes sense or is well placed. The absolute failure to explore the lives and mindsets of the chefs or the promises that were made to get them to this island is frustrating and is yet another point where the film attacks the audience's ability to engage with the material.
The technical ability behind the film is at least competent. The production design is noticeably strong as is the overall pacing of the film that uses the schedule of dinner service to define its runtime. The film takes place almost exclusively in the restaurant during dinner yet at no point did this lack of movement feel frustrating or boring. The food itself is also overall strong with the film openly embracing the editing of a Food Network program even when it comes to presenting these dishes to the viewer. It is worth noting however that for those who regularly watch cooking competitions and higher end cooking programs, very few of the dishes present within The Menu will be truly impressive or shocking which at times can break the illusion that this is supposed to be a daring and one of a kind restaurant.
While The Menu might not be a total disaster, it is hard to say the film is worthwhile or successful. The film takes the layout and appearance of a meaningful social commentary and fills it with a generic and underwhelming horror plot. The performances, outside of Fiennes, are unremarkable with very little of the production actually feeling that inspired or deep. The project feels like one that would be expected as a streaming original that is dumped in the spring to get some clicks before the theatrical slate ramps up. Don't be fooled by how pretty or pretentious the film’s voice seems to be, there is little within The Menu to actually chew on.
The Menu wears its social commentary on its sleeve in a way that is easily digestible and acceptable. Just like how the diners in the film are presently aware of a deeper social relevance to the courses they are consuming, the audience cannot help but be aware of the film's ideas on privilege and consumer culture. The connection between food and the popular concept of eating the rich is another obvious connection for the film. While this is far from being inherently bad, social relevance should be encouraged within film and has been used correctly by countless other projects in 2022 alone, The Menu represents the worst of this connection. The social commentary within The Menu is lazy and incoherent. At every turn of analysis, contradictions and even problematic perspectives are found. There is a divide between the privileged and the unprivileged, the customers and the chefs. This divide however is poked and muddled for the sake of traditional horror narratives that threaten to undercut the entire project's thesis.
The biggest point of confusion comes in the form of Margot Mills (Anya Taylor-Joy). Mills was not originally scheduled to be at this dinner and places the entire concept of the evening at risk for Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) and his chefs. This character is meant in narrative to disrupt and challenge Slowik and his ideals. While this face off has its moments, mainly thanks to the performances behind each figure, it is an act of irreversible diastrophism for the social commentary of the film. The feature is never able to recover and ends up failing to provide anything substantial or new for the conversation it is engaging in. While the courses might look delicious on the outside and claim to hold some deeper poignancy, when one actually bites into the course it ends up being remarkably stale. It doesn't help that the film then decides to inject misplaced comedy that seems to openly trivialize even its own darker moments, therefore killing off nearly any gravitas found within these segments.
The one force truly pushing for excellence in this kitchen is clearly Ralph Fiennes. Wicked and absolutely demanding of attention, Fiennes gives a crafted and powerful performance. It is sad that in opposition to Fiennes is Anya Taylor-Joy who struggles greatly to match the intensity and venom of her opponent. Especially neutered due to her more generic final girl narrative that is obvious from the first few frames of the feature, her character is wildly underdeveloped with the performance itself struggling to find anything to latch onto as strength or personality. She is supposed to be a rebel against the system, but comes off as lost and empty. The rest of the cast turn out acceptable performances but are almost completely single note with little of depth or defiance of expectations.
The world itself is equally hollow. The film rushes through its set up with the audience getting little understanding of the situation they find themselves in or details to be engaged by. There is an uncomfortable energy and spirit to this world, but it never feels explored or justified. The Menu is a film that builds tension for the sake of building tension, not because it makes sense or is well placed. The absolute failure to explore the lives and mindsets of the chefs or the promises that were made to get them to this island is frustrating and is yet another point where the film attacks the audience's ability to engage with the material.
The technical ability behind the film is at least competent. The production design is noticeably strong as is the overall pacing of the film that uses the schedule of dinner service to define its runtime. The film takes place almost exclusively in the restaurant during dinner yet at no point did this lack of movement feel frustrating or boring. The food itself is also overall strong with the film openly embracing the editing of a Food Network program even when it comes to presenting these dishes to the viewer. It is worth noting however that for those who regularly watch cooking competitions and higher end cooking programs, very few of the dishes present within The Menu will be truly impressive or shocking which at times can break the illusion that this is supposed to be a daring and one of a kind restaurant.
While The Menu might not be a total disaster, it is hard to say the film is worthwhile or successful. The film takes the layout and appearance of a meaningful social commentary and fills it with a generic and underwhelming horror plot. The performances, outside of Fiennes, are unremarkable with very little of the production actually feeling that inspired or deep. The project feels like one that would be expected as a streaming original that is dumped in the spring to get some clicks before the theatrical slate ramps up. Don't be fooled by how pretty or pretentious the film’s voice seems to be, there is little within The Menu to actually chew on.