The Menu (2022)

The Menu is a comic horror thriller that satirizes our content consumer culture.

Food critic Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) and his date Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) are a young couple, who travel to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant. Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes), who is known to serve exclusive food, sometimes with a twist.

It soon becomes apparent that the evening will turn out differently for the twelve guests than planned.

At first glance, The Menu seems mainly an attack on the exclusive foodie culture, but over time it becomes clear that the film actually tackles content culture in general.

Whether it's food or art, our interest often doesn't last longer than it takes us to consume. Whether that justifies the drastic measures that chef Slowik has in mind is an open question, but most of it is very amusing.

In the second half the movie becomes more overtly moralistic and there are times when the dialogue is too on the nose. Still, the filmmakers don’t only criticize public and media, but also creators themselves, who started out with the right intentions, but turned into monsters or ended up on Bullshit Mountain.

Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy are evenly matched, and there are great supporting turns by John Leguizamo as a washed up movie star and Janet McTeer as a haughty critic.

Slowik has an agenda of his own and our sympathy goes out to Margot, who appears to be an innocent bystander who only got on board because Tyler’s original date cancelled.

Taylor-Joy is always a delight to watch and her star turn here reminded me of her work in Edgar Wright’s magnificent Last Night in Soho. This part may be less flashy, but she once again gets to show her versatility and her depth, and in the end she walks away with the movie.

Screenwriters Seth Reiss and Will Tracy have the necessary surprises in store, which are served up with great taste by director Mark Mylod.

It may not be haute cuisine, but sometimes a well-made cheeseburger is all you need.