The Menu is a black, comedy, horror film directed by Mark Mylod, it follows 12 guests who have paid to go to an exclusive restaurant Hawthorne that is located on an island. The remote island houses the chef and the rest of his staff, and is also where they get the majority of their ingredients for his meals.
We follow Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) a young woman who is a last minute guest of the obnoxious food influencer Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) who spends most of his time obsessing over if the chef likes him and taking pictures of the food. Margot on the other hand does not care about the food they are eating, and would rather learn more about her dates life than hear him go on about the exquisite food. Also dining at the restaurant is three investment bankers who are just there to prove they can afford it, a movie star and his assistant who is just trying to prove he is still relevant, a food critic and her editor who pick out the smallest details of the food to critique, and an older married couple who have come to this restaurant multiple times. What is so interesting about this film is what each of the guests represent, they are all stuck up and obnoxious rich people in their own way, and are using this rare and expensive experience in this restaurant to their advantage. Except for Margot...
Margot does not care about the food, or the experience, she is just a plus-one. And Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) cannot take that. The head chef is calm throughout, keeping a monotone but quite sinister tone to his voice as he explains the meaning of tonight and each of his dishes. Slowik has an obsessive control over his staff, his dishes and his guests, wanting them to stay in their seats throughout and appreciate his food. When he notices that Margot was not Tyler's original guest, and he doesn't know anything about her he starts to lose his control over the night and his dishes.
It is hard to explain anything more about this film without spoiling the plot, but what makes this film interesting is how entertaining the events that take place are. Even though this film is a thriller/horror it also includes perfect comedic timings to be satirical of the master and servant relationship of the service industry. Anya Taylor-Joy gives another brilliant performance, and the contrasting personalities of her skepticism and Nicholas Hoult's obsessive foodie character is perfectly done. Another great character in this film is the restaurant manager Elsa (Hong Chau), who keeps a blunt, blank face throughout the meal, keeping the guests in their chairs at all times trying to keep the restaurant under control for her chef.
Throughout this film you don't really know what to expect and where it is going, which is what keeps the audience entertained throughout. I think that the interesting use of blending dark comedy and horror with the beautiful cinematography is what makes this film such an entertaining watch.
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