The Doctor’s Diagnosis: A-
I really didn’t know what to expect going into The Menu, so it’s fitting that it shares several things in common with Barbarian from a couple of months ago. First, they are from directors that have primarily been chugging along with television work and have few films to their credit. Second, although not to the crazy extent of Barbarian, the marketing for The Menu is misleading and Disney’s (yes, Disney’s) marketing team somewhat understandably had no idea what to do with it. Third, and most importantly, I love both movies, but can understand why someone would hate both movies. The Menu is an odd, very funny and very unique film, but it is also an acquired taste (ha!).
Our leads are a young, sort-of couple (played by Nicholas Hoult and Anya Taylor-Joy) who are going to a secluded island for a private meal being offered by a celebrity chef (played by Ralph Fiennes). Once there, the meal gradually takes on a more sinister tone as the unhinged chef and his assistants become increasingly hostile to the guests. Things escalate into bloodshed as it becomes clear that the chef has no intention of allowing anyone to leave the island alive.
The trailers for The Menu sell it as a horror film, but that isn’t really accurate. It is really more of a dark, or very dark, comedy. At the center of it, it’s really the story of a man that has lost his passion for his work and is ready to go out in a literal blaze of glory. As is cleverly revealed with minimal exposition, the chef was once a happy, bright-eyed cook in a hamburger joint and took great pride in the happiness that his simple burgers could bring to people. But as his career evolved and his patrons became more sophisticated, the joy of it went away as hamburgers were replaced by increasingly convoluted meals designed to appease cynical assholes that don’t value the food, but rather the vapid social scene surrounding the food. And now he’s had enough of their bullshit.
The real fun of The Menu lies with the invited guests and why they are there. Nicholas Hoult is an insufferable foodie that views the chef as an artistic hero. The chef’s open disgust with him is hilarious, highlighted by a great sequence where everyone is served a bread-less bread plate and Hoult gushes about the brilliance of it even though the chef is clearly mocking his blind devotion. There is a snobby food critic, a businessman that regularly takes up space in the restaurant without appreciating the food and an investor that overstepped his influence on the chef’s work. Another highlight is an over-the-hill actor, played by John Leguizamo, whose sin was making a terrible film that the chef once saw on his only day off in a period of several months. They are all there for the sin of draining a man’s passion and making the world a more cynical place and it’s really not hard to start rooting for the chef when it comes time to start offing these unbearable pricks.
The performances are stellar across the board. While Nicholas Hoult and John Leguizamo are particularly notable for creating the kind of assholes needed to generate sympathy for the chef, the real highlight is the interaction between Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes. The film establishes a unique cat-and-mouse game between these two, creating an odd dynamic where the hero and villain are both the relatable characters in the film while the victims are relegated to enjoyable canon fodder. Despite being pitted in a life-or-death battle, there is a quiet, mutual respect between the characters that shines through in the subtleties of their performances and becomes increasingly funny as the film progresses. In lesser hands, this could have easily become a more cliché case of psycho vs. final girl, but the material is elevated by the quirky and nuanced performances by these two. Also, Anya Taylor-Joy finally made a movie I really like! I’ve admired her as an actress for years, but I rarely cared for her films. Now if only Florence Pugh could make something this good.
Also much like Barbarian, I’m trying to be pretty vague about this one so that I don’t spoil anything. But I am strongly recommending this one and people will probably either thank me for the recommendation or hate me for it. The Menu is a dark, often morbid, comedy about the world stripping a man of his passion and the redemptive power of a great cheeseburger. As McDonald’s is my favorite restaurant, that’s a message that I can get behind.
Image By: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menu_(2022_film)#/media/File:The_Menu_(2022_film).jpg
