Released in September 2022, this horror-comedy melange feels like a lesser companion piece to “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” which came out the same week. Like “Glass Onion,” “The Menu” opens with a group of wealthy notables boarding a charter boat to a secluded island, hosted by an enigmatic male with a plot twist up his sleeve (in this case, the sleeve of a chef’s double-breasted jacket).
Both “Glass Onion” and “The Menu”‘s hero-protagonist is a young woman (here, Anya Taylor-Joy) whose presence subverts the grand plan, fueling plot lines that serve less as mystery or horror than they do social critique. Targets of “The Menu’s” skewers include an over-indulgent, smartphone-addicted foodie (Nicholas Hoult in easily agitated mode); a trio of pushy corporate scammers; an older couple defined by their upper-class indifference, and both a self-important critic (preening Janet McTeer) and a career-coasting film star (John Leguizamo).
The film’s chapters unfold with with mock-pretentious glee, presented via menu titles and text descriptions. Clapping sharply, chef (Ralph Fiennes, who maintains an unsettling pained expression) announces each course of a multi-course dinner where the dishes have more white space than actual food. “The Menu” builds tension like a slow cooker, spilling over when a server (Hong Chau, a study in minimalist contempt) says “No” repeatedly to patrons who can’t handle being said “No” to, and pull the “Do you know who we are?” card.
When “The Menu” hits its horror twist, Taylor-Joy must find an escape, a familiar setup better exploited in other recent films (such as 2019’s “Ready or Not,” with its similar rich-versus-poor subtext). But director Mark Mylod, working from Seth Reiss and Will Tracy’s script, favors socio-cultural psychology over action and suspense, and the movie only briefly dips into “Most Dangerous Game” chase antics.
Though “The Menu” feels more like a cinematic appetizer than entree, its flavors build to let you savor a collective, resigned guilt over the ways contemporary people and institutions ruin the world and themselves. Whether the premise’s poke at culinary high culture matches your movie-going palate, you’ll never look at cheeseburgers or s’mores the same way again.
Addendum comments:
- A final scene is unexpectedly reminiscent of “Ratatouille.”
- Whoever decided to cast Nicholas Hoult and Anya Taylor-Joy together should have their next meal comped. They’d be a cute couple in a rom-com. Come to think of it, Hoult was in the last “Mad Max” movie, and Taylor-Joy stars in the upcoming “Furiosa.” Clearly their cinematic DNA is linked.
