Director: Mike Mylod
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Paul Adelstein, John Leguizamo, Aimee Carrero, Reed Birney, Judith Light, Rebecca Koon, Rob Yang, Arturo Castro
Distributor: Searchlight Pictures
Runtime: 106 mins. Reviewed in Nov 2022
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc

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Rating notes: Strong themes, violence and coarse language

Not a menu one would expect. Selected guests attend a special multi-course dinner, presided over by a demanding chef. Lives and secrets are revealed and judgment made.

The title is direct, clear, succinct. This film is not. It all begins with great hope and anticipation. Guests arrive for a ferry which will take them across to an island which has a celebrated restaurant. The most eager of the guests is Tyler (Hoult) as a young businessman who has had a long admiration for the chef and is eager to enjoy the meal as well as the presence of the celebrity. Along with him is Margot (Taylor-Joy), his companion, stepping in for Tyler’s friend who is not able to come (a fact important for the development of the plot). Margot does not know much about the restaurant or the chef and has her petulant moments. Other guests include an older husband and wife who have visited the restaurant many times. There is also a popular cooking critic with her editor. And a group of three young vain and presumptuous wheeler dealers.

So, we have the characters, the restaurant setting, the atmosphere for the night. The guests all hosted by an ever-present and controlling maitre d’, Elsa (Chau).

Enter Chef Slowik (Fiennes) – applause, acclamation, and a lot of adulation on the part of Tyler (to Margot’s distaste).

From this moment on, The Menu is not predictable at all. Despite the eeriness at times, the audience is drawn in, intrigued by what the chef and his staff prepare, some moments of disgust at what is presented to them, wondering whether we would be as subservient as the guests are, at first, to what the chef is asking.

Particularly intriguing are the staff, all in white uniform, militarily responding to the commands of the chef. The commanding extends to the guests with some feeling like rebelling, others, such as Tyler, doing everything that he is told, relishing the food, ignoring the repercussions for the other guests.

One of the important things that chef commands of his guests is that they relish taste. Taste and delicacy are the order of the day.

And then, The Menu becomes even more unpredictable with some violence and a gradual unmasking of each of the guests, their connection with the chef, the past and consequences… It is something of a bizarre restaurant examination of conscience and forced confession.

We realise that it has all been planned. But Margot is not part of the plan so that the scenario moves off course, but the chef contrives situations to get the plan back on track.

So, while the chef might have godlike qualities, there is also something quietly diabolical about Fiennes’ presence and performance. He has been the judge of his guests. Now is the time for sentence – and, as with so many popular American films and novels, not the fire next time, but the fire this time – apocalyptic.

If one were to look for a smart caption for a review of The Menu, a suggestion would be, ‘Order the Cheeseburger’.