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If You Can't Stand the Haute, Get Out of the Kitchen
The Hawthorne is an exclusive restaurant with a very pricey cover fee. Run by the renowned celebrity Chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes), it is settled on an island, accessible only by boat. Margot Mills (Anya Taylor-Joy) accompanies foodie and Slowik fan-boy Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), who is clearly obsessed with the idea of a once-in-a-lifetime meal planned, produced and executed by his idol, but Margot is clearly underwhelmed, especially as Tyler admonishes her for smoking ("It ruins the palate") and when she finds out she is the second choice for Tyler's "plus one"—a revelation that annoys both her and the Hawthorne's captain, Elsa (Hong Chau) for disturbing the already determined guest list—she is really cheesed off. "No substitutions", evidently.
The dinner party is an odd mix of patrons and customers, all rich, influential and privileged: there's food critic Lillian Bloom (Janet McTeer)—an early champion of Slowik's work—and her editor Ted (Paul Adelstein); actor George Diaz (John Leguizamo)—"I'm in the 'presenter" phase of my career"—and his assistant Felicity (Aimee Carrero); frequent customers Richard Liebbrandt (Reed Birney) and his wife Anne (Judith Light); then there's the trio of tech investors Soren, Bryce, and Dave (Arturo Castro, Rob Yang, Mark St. Cyr) associated with Slowik's "sugar-daddy" (and the island's owner). Oh. And there's "Chef's" mother (Rebecca Koon), who doesn't get past the drinks portion of the meal (you've got to stick with what works).
Twelve guests. Same as "The Last Supper." Hmm.
Given these ingredients, The Menu is an odd little concoction, not to everyone's taste. A mixture of horror, comedy—black humor varietal—satire, social commentary, it may come across as not exciting enough for horror buffs and not biting enough for those looking for depth and some looking for escapism might find it an bit pretentious, even though pretension is one of its main ingredients and one of its main targets.
All the guests have paid thousands of pretty pennies to have such a grand meal—the market exclusivity being part of the charm and "the point" for them—even if the night's fare is a complete mystery to those paying for the privilege. But, Chef Slowik is going to be going completely off-menu for the night, his chefs and sommeliers planning something special for just these particular guests. And if you think you know what's going to happen from glancing at the trailers—trapped guests, dinner experience, weird chef—you've seen too many movies and you're wrong. The movie isn't catered by Hannibal Lecter and there are no jokes about ladies' fingers and giving someone a piece of your mind.
The horror isn't that straight-forward, but it's certainly macabre. The meals, in their courses, are edible—if not particularly palatable—certainly not poisonous and prepared with a precision that is regimental and over-the-top in its elaborateness. The presentation is impeccable, with Chef delivering a monologing introduction by way of explanation for the reasoning, if not the logic, behind each course. The price tag is part of the appeal and so no one complains if the ingredients are odd, the portions small (if non-existent), and the appetite is unsatisfied. As Chef informs one of the guests: "You'll get more than you desire and less than you deserve."
One could say the same for the audience, but I don't want to be too unfair. There are joys. Ralph Fiennes gets all the best lines and he makes the most of them, creating another lovely monster that manages to convey vulnerability and a certain piteousness. But, the film centers around Anya Taylor-Joy's Margot—some might think too much—and the actor is endlessly fascinating to watch. I won't say that she's making a career of victim-warriors, but that seems to be where she's ending up these days, one can't argue with the "deer-in-the-headlights" eyes and the rebel "attitude" the actress exudes. But, the "Margot" character becomes an integral part of the puzzle—why is she there? why does she cause such a stir among the restaurant staff? why does Chef subject her to such scrutiny and (er) grilling? Why does anyone care? About her?
The movie plays fair and doesn't pull some surprise Agatha Christie-backstory-reveal for her, but she is the movie's hinge, and appropriately so, not only in the story's unfolding logic sense (such as it is) and its underpinnings of social commentary, so it's a good thing that Taylor-Joy is so good. You keep watching her when mysteries like Chef's "No Trespassing" headquarters, and the increasingly bizarre courses make you raise doubts about what is going on. Taylor-Joy grounds it.
The movie needs her. Because with all those black humor touches, satiric thrusts, and social conceits, the movie threatens to float off in its own hot air. On the surface level, The Menu just does not work if one is looking for story sense, story logic, and any sense of realism. It's pretensions would not play out if it did. No. One has to think of the thing as an absurdist farce, the kind that if people behaved normally, nothing would happen (but because they have this "weakness" of character blah-blah-blah).
In fact, it "works" better, and even brilliantly, if one thinks of it as a feature-length version of Monty Python's "Restaurant" sketch (where the staff melts down and begin to attack the customers who complain of "a dirty fork"). Of course, the idea is absurd. Of course, things wouldn't play out like this, but the play is dependent on the contrivance if it is to exist at all. Part of that is the price we pay for "suspense" to accept the high dudgeon and heightened melodrama (staples of horror), to have the fun of the experience by suspending our belief.
Given that thought, The Menu is more than entertaining and has an interesting resolution...which...again..."shouldn't" work, but is interesting psychologically and played brilliantly...and to a thesis the film-makers are trying to make between the qualities of service-providers versus service-takers. It is satisfying, but don't expect anything that doesn't leave a disquieting taste. It just isn't on The Menu.
