The Menu

I've had my eyes - or rather my stomach? - set on The Menu for quite sometime now. 

I wouldn't consider myself a foodie...I rarely Instagram food or take pictures of it, but I do delight in it and my wife and I are above-average-consistency Food Network watchers. 

Something about The Menu felt like it was going to be an example of all the pieces falling together, rather effortlessly, into a film that was at least good, if not pretty darn amazing. And the truth is rather boring (but good): it's about exactly as strong a film as I thought it would be. No better, but certainly not worse. 

Like some of the best films, The Menu unfolds like a good novel and I imagine it would have made an exciting screenplay read. From the opening scenes, it's packed with mystery about character backstories and how they may know each other. 

For an ixorbant amount of money, they're all shuttled by boat to a deserted island where a famous restaurant and chef reside. The Hawthorne, with lead chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). Guests are walked along the property to see where their food is grown and sourced, then finally seated in a modern, gorgeous restaurant along the water. Moments of awkwardness and weirdness pepper the early moments, ones that the audience, and our main character Margot (Taylor-Joy) notice, but no one else really does. Eventually, as you likely guess from the trailers, a shocking moment happens and guests are left wondering what exactly they got themselves into. 

For all the things going for it, I will say The Menu's first half (more like 2/3rds) is better than it's last bit. The mystery builds effectively, almost feeling like a who-dun-it without a murder. It's a dark comedy and never feels like horror, per say, but there are unsettling moments. It's in this first portion I was truly wondering if this was going to be one of my favorite films of the year. I was really enjoying my time and it felt to be firing on all cylinders. As it gets into the final portion, I wasn't so much disappointed as the film just loses a bit of steam. The obvious ending definitely felt disappointing but it ultimately resulted in a tremendously fun and wicked plot idea where the journey was a blast but the destination was...fine?

"I do say, is that a chess board I smell over there?"

"If I can't kill Harry Potter with a spell,
I'll do it by poison dammit!"

Luckily that means there's still a lot of great filmmaking to be had, largely in part to a whip-smart script and a pitch-perfect cast. The script feels like it balances right on the border of overly-pretensions art-house indie and outright comedy, which is its selling angle. It likes to poke fun at the rich, the poor, itself, class, and many other things and it does so really effectively. Some of this is done through basic situational comedy (some of the menu course introductions got big chuckles), while the most effective bits are provided by Fiennes himself. Playing a mix of Voldemort and a comedian, he delivers his lines sharply, as if they're the most serious thing in the world, and the result is some funny-as-hell moments, often coated with a thick coat of dark comedy. Nicholas Holt is easy to hate as an arrogant pretentious twit who's obsessed with the culinary arts. Anya Taylor-Joy is, as usual, fantastic even if her role isn't all that complicated as the "normal human recognizing that stuff is happening" but her casualness and allure continue to be a powerful combination in most any role she takes. 

My review for The Menu can be brief, an appetizer if you will, because it's a film where you've likely made up your mind already, particularly if you're a fan of dark comedy. I quite liked it, especially during the beginning, but after soaring high it seems to come back down to earth when its final pieces start getting laid out. Up until that point however? This is truly fine dining. 

CONS

• Loses steam in final stretch
• For as smart as it is, the ending felt a tad obvious (in a disappointing way)
• Much more memorable original score would have helped

PROS

• Dark comedy that sticks the landing a majority of the time. The bits mocking culinary arts/food culture were spot-on and the script is razor sharp
• Ralph Fiennes comedic ability is the MVP
• Other cast - Hoult, Taylor-Joy, co-characters - are all well cast and do a good job
• Simple, but elegant set design and aesthetics. Feels like a culinary oasis which adds to the humor
• Fantastic management and layering of mystery from the opening moments. Even if it doesn't all pan out, it still kept me heavily invested

Rath's Review Score | 8/10