Review: 'The Menu' serves a delicious satire with mind-bendingly terrifying moments

The Menu

"You'll eat less than you desire and more than you deserve" as a character mouths this line to another character in The Menu, you can almost sense the tone and intention and 'cut the tension with a knife'.

The Menu is a dark comedy thriller that stars Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy in lead roles and having had the chance to see it beforehand, here is what I thought about it-

The Pretense

How often has it happened with you that you are dining at a high-end restaurant with an avant-garde experience and barely ever fill up your stomach trying to 'fit in.' Definitely a number of times! The irony with The Menu lies that for a film that talks about the fancy culinary experience and the chef boasting and exhibiting the importance of 'tasting' food and not 'eating' it; The Menu isn't really about the food at all. The premise acts as a delicious satire on how privileged people pay for the ostentatious experience and end up being involved in a mystery thriller no one saw coming! I mean, no one!

The Terminologies & Characters

The writing by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy along with signature direction by Mark Mylod (Succession fame) serves up a fascinating 'knives out' styled mystery where even though it isn't a whodunnit per se, it becomes more about why-dunnit. One jaw-dropping moment after another pops as you are taken into this metallic contours of a lavish restaurant located on the fictional island of Hawthorne. The writing also takes care of transporting you in believing these pretentious characters with words like 'biome', 'epicurean salon', 'thalassic' are thrown around by a food critic and chef serves a seven course meal.

Apart from the leads, there are some fascinating characters to enjoy in the form of John Leguizamo as a movie star, Nicholas Hoult as a foodie-geek and fanboy of the Chef and Elsa, the waitress who introduces the guests to this mystical world.

Fiennes & Taylor-Joy

However, it obviously becomes all about the two main faces the film rests upon. The legend that Fiennes is, he plays Chef Julian Slownik with a tyrannical presence, unabashed narcissism and twisted sensibilities. Proclaiming to be the food legend he is, he has actually forgotten what food stands for. While you relish the deliciousness and terror with every instance he claps mouthing a monologue about his next course; the other character or Margot Mills, played by Anya Taylor-Joy is basically the only 'human' factor about this madness. She is basically our representative into this story being the voice of reason while being cynical and yet level-headed enough which the actor expertly portays. In fact, the climax sequence just fantastically rounds up the satirical intention of the film through her character arc.

Unexplored Parallel Characters

While it was fantastic to have parallel characters with their own arcs, that is the one thing which I felt, remained unexplored in the setting. Three tech brothers who are involved in some nefarious laundering activities, an indulgent food critic, an ageing movie star, and a couple with relationship struggles - they all get one brilliant scene to shine and lead us into their back stories in one of the courses but that is pretty much it. Apart from Leguizamo getting an extra few things to play with, none of the other fascinating characters get too much to do inspite of dropping hints.

The Verdict

The Menu is one of the craziest movie experiences I have witnessed in the recent past in the best possible way where it satiates your hunger of watching some delicious thrilling content with expert performances while also leaving you hungry a bit probably.

Rating - **** (4/5)