The Menu (Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult) – It’s wickedly funny, stunningly dark, and amazingly unpredictable. That The Menu is set in the undeniably trendy world of fine food and haute cuisine makes it even tastier. This savory film skewers the rich, the egotists, and the faux experts, taking a sharp knife to the privileged, elitists and even food critics.
The plot: a dozen people pay $1,250 per person for a night of fine wine and food prepared by perhaps the world’s greatest chef (Ralph Fiennes). To get there, guests take a yacht to a private island where they watch the food prepared by an army of staff, who obey their boss’ every order.
The Menu follows the recipe of Get Out: the deeper you get, the more bizarre the characters and the story. What starts as a small bite into the rich and famous devolves into flawed people getting their just desserts.
The most featured player is Chef Slowik, whose arrogance conflicts with his humble upbringing in Waterloo, Iowa. Even his mother attends the dinner, a lush in the corner of the room swigging fine wine like it is water.
There’s the fawning Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), a disciple of Slowik, who has brought his date, Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy from The Queen’s Gambit). She is beautiful, confident, mouthy, and the least impressed with the whole experience. You just know there is more to this young woman … and indeed there is.
There’s the actor (John Leguizamo) on his way down; the food critic (Janet McTeer) who launched Slowik’s career; the trio of entitled fan boys; the couple (Judith Light and Reed Birney) making their 11th trip to the island; and the restaurant manager (Hong Chau) who is alternately host and enforcer.
Is this a comedy, a horror film, or a thriller? The answer is decidedly yes! And you can step up to the plate for a lot less than $1,250 per person.