Storytime – so obviously, I’m insatiable with movies. It’s my main way of learning, about history and events, philosophy, and perspectives. I can get a little self-conscious about it sometimes, especially meeting people who don’t share my enthusiasm. I can worry about delving in too deeply, coming across too strong. “It’s just a movie”, I hear, “it’s supposed to be entertaining for a couple of hours and that’s it 🙄” But I love relating my experience to that of my sister and brother-in-law, who are both chefs, and when we go out to share a meal, they dissect every detail of a dinner – from service, to presentation, portion, contents, and taste! It’s interesting, but it’s “just a meal” to me; “just eat it and enjoy it”, I say! But it’s calmed me, discovering that we all have our passions, our obsessions, and it’s helped me feel normal about being unusual 😂 The Menu excites me because it’s combining mine and my family’s passion in a way I’ve never seen before. And through the first act of this movie, the more foody portion of the show, I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.
Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) and Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) board a ferry to an island where an exclusive dining experience awaits. It’ll be hosted by the famous and unconventional head chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes), and Tyler is nearly jumping out of his skin with excitement, but Margot is only tagging along because Tyler had a last-minute spare ticket. As the nine other guests check in, restaurant maitre’d Elsa (Hong Chau) is perturbed that Tyler hasn’t brought his original date – something about Margot has thrown her off. It’s our first inclination that everything is not quite right with this night, that’ll seemingly demand perfection.
Gosh, there are so many things to admire about the first act of this movie – where to begin! The easiest is the acting; Anya Taylor-Joy is building a career around playing sassy queens, and it’s like this role was made for her. I was worried she was going to overpower Nicolas Hoult, another favourite of mine, cuckhold by an American accent and a subservient character, when he’s at his best with a fiery streak as well – she does at the start, then things even up, before tipping too far the other way, but more on that later… Perhaps I related to the couple’s experience, or their introduction is so well depicted it’s investing, with new, maybe first-date jitters, taking the cool girl out, with her dyed hair and leather jacket, and trying to keep up with her as she tries to stay open to you. The initial tour of the restaurant facility sets the scene so elegantly, as we prepare for what this movie might have in store. Elsa is perfect, as she explains the location and the process, with a quiet sense of distain for the guests. Then the movie shifts around seamlessly from table to table once the menu begins, to show its guests poignant commentary. There’s the old couple, so rich and bored that the menu is lost on them. The ‘power taster’ bullies, who are paying for the experience, but do not give too hoots about the artisan. And the fading film-star, who thinks himself a foodie, but cannot muster a description of the food other than to say, ‘it’s good’. I applaud The Menu for picking a brilliant lens to tell its story; I bet it’s known that chefs would certainly see the worst of people, through an array of different disrespectful customers, and there’s a meticulousness in getting to a position of a great chef, that’s a little militant, and this movie picks up on that and runs with it. For these guests, chef is putting on a symphony, and it’s like they’re wearing earplugs. But then you’ve got the narcissistic super-critic and her lapdog, who revel in finding fault, and Tyler, who is the only one allowing himself to be swept up in the journey, even accepting the dig of the breadless course, which I also thought was ingenious (but I’m not a foodie, remember). I’m looking forward to the comparisons to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that could come thick and fast, as all these guests have come to revel in Slowik’s culinary mastery, but are unappreciative ‘bad eggs’. The scene in Slowik’s office definitely reminded me of Wonka challenging Charlie in his own space, postulating on his character, and where Charlie must give back the gobstopper to prove himself – that’s Margot’s honesty about her history, the gobstopper. Slowik should’ve also told Tyler he’s ‘a trifle deaf in this ear’, to his constant need for acknowledgement, as if he was Mike Teevee 🤣 And through a set seating plan which I thought was weird, with Margot’s back to Chef as he speaks, like a good chef, the movie is fully aware of its elements, and by the time sous-chef is ready to… free himself from burden, Margot has been turned around to the show’s full attention. Phew! Quite honestly, *chef’s kiss*
But everything that was making this movie a triumph in the first act, moves to dip with the momentum around the time we venture outside. The Menu becomes self-referential, telling rather than playing out, as the characters repeat how the night will end in death. And yes, the quick blink-and-you’ll-miss-it divergence into specific male privilege, after the movie had been about universal givers and takers up until that point, really made me wince. I mean, the chefs chase the males around the island, to what end? What’s that about? And I take umbrage with the Tyler character, who falls down deeper and deeper into absurdity, ignoring the chaos around him for a good feed. Maybe I’m missing the forest through the trees, but I don’t entirely understand his sin as a superfan, full of nothing but admiration for Chef’s mastery. Perhaps I take it personally, as I’m guilty of analysing and dissecting other people’s work, when I know I don’t possess the skills to make it myself, but what’s wrong with taking an academic respectful interest? Tyler is almost depicted as mentally challenged by the time Slowik enacts his ultimate revenge, and I think the movie agrees with me, through the shock in Margot’s face, that it’s a callous act. The movie even leaves what was said up to our imaginations with a whisper, when everything else has been most detailed. The punishment does not fit the crime, but if I’m missing the point with Tyler, please let me know.
There’s also something about revealing Margot as an escort that I don’t like, that lets her off the hook regarding the choice to if she’s a giver or a taker. It means she’s now with Tyler due to a cold business transaction, instead of being on a date with him, perhaps charmed by him at some point, or tempted by a lavish lifestyle for herself, and having to choose between sides as if she’s in the middle of a failing bridge. The silliest moment of the movie comes when Slowik decides that the film-star’s assistant Felicity (Aimee Carrero) deserves to die because she doesn’t have any student debts – I think it’s meant to be a throwaway joke by the movie, but what arrogance, when there’s many ways to interpret privilege, and what sloppy planning when The Menu’s grand crescendo had seemingly been more pointed. After the tense debacle with the coast guard, I revalued, accepting that maybe the movie was deliberately transforming Slowik from vengeful wit to pompous twat, and I couldn’t wait for Margot to get the better of him. So, when she claps, and suggests he cook a cheeseburger, my smile did return.
Ralph Fiennes has carved out such an interesting resume. He’s so suitable as anything, from the purest gentleman as James Bond’s M, to the vilest Nazi in Schindler’s List, and this role offers so much versatility for Fiennes to sway between his range. Slowik pulls faces like Fiennes’ snarly snakey Voldemort, and does heart-melting doe-eyes at one point like Puss in Boots in Shrek 2 😂 Slowik could push the echelon of the most intriguing movie characters of all time, but I’ll need to let it rest, to see how I ultimately feel about that. The first act of The Menu is my favourite movie of the year, but it sours like the dinner, and it seems Chef, myself, and director Mark Mylod must all accept that nothing is ever perfect. It’s so funny to me that after so many years, the most effective way to portray the healing power of food is still the simple ending to Ratatouille, in my opinion. And last year’s Pig sums up the hoopla of fine dining, in my eyes, with one scene. But I’m not dismissing The Menu, as a movie with its own twists and elevations, and many of them. It’s obnoxious, wholesome, sharp and it’s blunt. Quite simply, it’s probably nothing like you’ve ever seen before.
4.0
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