Honestly I fully expected I was going to like The Menu. I put it on a list of Most Anticipated Films! And Anya Taylor- Joy… I pretty much enjoy everything she’s been in.
I didn’t expect that I was going to LOVE The Menu and have it in my top 5 2022 films overall of a list that let’s be honest is never going to get written. But this movie is so delicious. And I actually say that as someone who got accidentally spoiled for the end. Took nothing away.
But I will not spoil anything here.
The Menu is about a group of people specially invited to a dinner at a super fancy restaurant (I mean this place has its own island)! Chef Julian Slowick (Ralph Fiennes), who gets increasingly creepier than Voldemort here, plans to serve up an extremely special meal.
The only thing that throws him off is the arrival of Margot (Taylor-Joy) who is not on the guest list.
And can I just say Nicholas Hoult considers to be one of the most underrated actors around. He is so good in this that it’s not even funny. He plays a sycophantic foodie and a more punchable character has never existed.
I mean the whole cast is first rate really. Fiennes can be especially chilling but a couple of times his micro-expressions, especially with Tyler, just make the performance.
And the script?
Top Gun Maverick is also in my top 5 films of 2022 but the fact that it has a screenplay Oscar nomination and The Menu doesn’t… Annoying. The writers and the cast keep the tension going in this like an actual live wire. Especially that ending. Though the movie is sprinkled with laughs. Dark laughs. But still.
Like the whole ‘you get no bread,’ scene… so good. And yes I would have been upset about that too. I always have the bread. Even when I shouldn’t I have the bread… and if the bread is really good I keep having it 🙂
Anyway as Slowick’s intentions unravel with each increasingly wild course our guests start to fall apart. But can Slowick figure out Margot before she figures him out? And will that even matter in the end?
The Menu is available on HBO Max and well worth the watch if you’ve been putting it off.
Recommend: Yes.
So glad you enjoyed it. It was my favorite film of 2022.
Yep, loved this. It seems to be very divisive though, for some reason. Perhaps if you don’t go in expecting a satire it’s a little shocking?
Still, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes… That’s all you really need to make sure I’m there. 🙂
I saw it at a screening where peculiar foods were offered at the start. I didn’t indulge because I arrived full. By the end, it was clear that ATJ was my favourite thing about The Menu. There’s currently no pull for me to rewatch it but that might change.