What Mitchell said:
I think you would like the movie The Menu. I really like how it examines the absurdity of haute cuisine and I think you would appreciate that as well. And weirdly, I would have liked to try that meal, except for the dessert.
What Jeff said:
Forget [Mitchell’s] review!
Mike’s verdict:
I’m very glad that I didn’t know anything more about the film beyond what Mitchell said – a lot of the charm comes from scenes that could be easily spoiled by knowing the premise ahead of time. So if you haven’t already seen it, stop reading now and come back after.
The Menu is an absurd, and a fantastically irreverent, criticism of anyone who can afford to be taken in by the delusion of “haute cuisine”. Serving a commentary on class conflict, the film marries the flavours of Carnage, The Cabin in the Woods, and a dash of Sideways – each delicately combined and spread atop a thin Saw wafer. It’s ridiculous and a lot of fun.
The casting makes an interesting ensemble of unlikeable side characters who collectively meet all of the stereotypes for patrons of gourmet restaurants: the washed-up actor and his unhappy assistant, the creepy old business man and his clueless wife (Judith Light is most definitely not the boss this time), the insufferably pretentious food critic and her high-flown editor, and the trio of arrogant finance boys who actually use the phrase “Do you know who we are?”.
Ralph Fiennes does a good job as the head villain chef too (though it’s still hard to see him and not think of Voldemort anyway), and Anya Taylor-Joy is quite believable as the scrapy under-dog hero. Her final play for survival is a cleverly satisfying way to resolve the story. The only mis-step is Nicholas Hoult‘s character whose choices are simply confusing.
Overall, The Menu is an entertaining way to poke fun at people who like plates of foam.
8/10
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