'The Menu' Review: A Biting Satirical Thriller That Will Give Audiences Something to Taco 'Bout [TIFF 2022]
Regardless of your taste in film, this eclectic ensemble gives you something you can sink your teeth into.
If you’ve ever searched for a new recipe online, perhaps to simply try something new and shake up the doldrum of defrosting another lasagna or Taco Tuesday, often you don’t have to know everything about it - you can just look for a few key ingredients.
The intrigue surrounding The Menu is arguably for most fans, that exact mysterious online recipe. You don’t have to know everything about it to know its concept already seems deliciously dark and satirical. You don’t have to know how it’s going to taste or the ‘mouthfeel’ you’ll experience when you have two cups of Anya Taylor-Joy, a dash of Nicholas Hoult and a main course of Ralph Fiennes. The meal is going to be delicious.
The Menu follows a young couple, Tyler (Hoult) and Margot (Taylor-Joy) as they board a ferry to carry them to an unknown location to have the ultimate dining experience. Tyler is the insufferable foodie - slapping Margot’s hand away from enjoying an hors d'oeuvre before he can take a picture of the plate. Margot, the archetypal cool girl we were all too nervous to speak to in high school, strong, leather clad, and without a touch of pretension. When they arrive on the island where they’ll dine, the only real building of note is the restaurant where Chef Slowik (Fiennes) runs the tightest of tight ships. As the ultimate exclusive meal progresses, the evening becomes more sinister and even deadly course by course.
It’s fair to say that director Mark Mylod’s work leading up to The Menu has passed under the radar of most moviegoers. There was the forgettable Ali G in the House, already two decades old at this point, and aging like milk, and the even more forgettable What’s Your Number starring Anna Farris and Chris Evans. Yet it would seem that all of Mylar’s television direction was what was developing his palette. That’s not even a food pun, either, that’s completely sincere and in reference to his visual and storytelling palette. His direction of The Menu is understated, and that works perfectly for the situation. There is purpose in the camera’s stillness, there is tension being built by the framing of a character’s face, or the play of light and dark within the restaurant and subsequent sets. His experience directing some of the greatest television shows in recent years including Shameless, Game of Thrones, The Affair and Succession seems perfectly suited for what is essentially a ‘bottle episode’ - a small set, a relatively concentrated cast, and a simple enough story to follow. With the exception of the massive blockbuster budget and scale of Game of Thrones, Mylod has worked within these confines before.
That may be deterring from the writers of The Menu however, and without having read the script, one cannot be certain what was written on the page, and what Mylod chose to do as the director. One clever aspect of the Menu is how it breaks itself down into easily digestible bites, utilizing smaller segments with title cards to show what course the audience is currently consuming. Writers Will Tracy and Seth Reiss craft a hilarious look at celebrity chefs and the lengths people will go to be associated with the world of haute cuisine. One standout which embodies the entire ludicrous nature of overpriced meals is the Sommelier played by Peter Grosz, who brags about a wine that came from a ‘single vine’ or has “afternotes of remorse” (which may be the best written line to come out of this years’ festival).
At the TIFF premiere, Tracy told the crowd his inspiration was a rather nightmarish outing on his Honeymoon, where a similar meal of prestige called for a ferry to a practically abandoned island. As the ferry pulled away, Tracy remembers thinking they were at the inescapable mercy of their hosts.
If the film has a major weakness, it would be that Tracy and Reiss never truly delve into the psychology of the sycophantic following Tracy himself has been guilty of. Tyler is a blind follower of Slowik, perhaps even as blind as Slowik’s cult-like army of Sous Chefs, and that’s an important plot point and running gag throughout the film, but the motivation was never truly there to explain Tyler’s motivation. That’s all that can be revealed less this review spoil a few key twists, but needless to say that was the biggest question coming out of the film - why is this army of chef’s willing to go along with the bloodshed? Even Slowik’s right hand, Elsa (Hong Chau), who is an absolute blast to watch, (and having an amazing run at the festival between this and The Whale) is never fleshed out.
The reason it is difficult to suspend disbelief for all of the actions of the Slowik army is because so many other times we get the full answers we deserve. Tracy and Reiss tells us why Tyler is there, why Margo is there, why Slowik has chosen so many of the guests to be his victims that evening, and most importantly why Slowik has become the maestro behind this symphony of salt, fat, sugar and blood. Some explanations are simply written for comedic effect, but they are still there, and yet there is nothing as to why these followers of Slowik drank the proverbial Koolaid. It seems almost to be a forgotten plot point, but could have used even one more comedic one-liner to fill the gaps.
This could have given Fiennes and Taylor-Joy even more to play with, and considering how amazingly they fleshed out a fairly simple concept and characters who only have a slight arc from start to finish, that would have been something to behold. Regardless, the two certainly carry the film, and are so perfectly paired, Grosz’s Sommelier could not have done a better job. To see their two characters together truly drove the film through its slower moments, and seeing generation talents like Taylor-Joy match energy with a veteran such as Fiennes at the top of his sinister game was the carbonation in the sparkling wine.
Regardless of a few story gaps, a lack of real carnage candy for the true horror lover, and a third act that falls off the tracks slightly, Mylod and team had a clear vision. The tone of the film is superb and a lot of fun, and deserves to be watched with a crowd of your favorite dinner guests. The eclectic ensemble cast including Judith Light, Janet McTeer, Arturo Castro and John Leguizamo balance the comedic and morbid ingredients of the film perfectly to keep the audience hungry for more. The script, while perhaps nothing new in terms of premise or political commentary has enough twists and turns and an overall foreboding gloom that makes The Menu a delicious addition to the thriller genre.