Story and tone

On January 3, the thriller “The Menu” was released on Western digital platforms. The film is a masterful irony of contemporary art. The picture was directed by Marc Milod, one of the directors of the series “The Heirs” and “Game of Thrones. And among the producers is the author of “Don’t Look Up” and “Game of Thrones” Adam McKay. In addition, the creators were advised by prominent Michelin-starred chefs. Therefore, the thriller came out topical, tense, and gourmet. After some scenes, you are sure to have an appetite.

A group of wealthy people sails to a closed island where the elite restaurant of genius chef Slowik, played by Ralph Fiennes, is located. Among the guests are business people, actors, critics, and a young couple, Margot and Tyler. Anya Taylor-Joy from “The Queen’s Walk” and Nicholas Holt from the latest “Mad Max” play them. The dinner ticket costs a fortune, and the chef keeps the evening’s program a secret, promising to present something unexpected.

In the end, the chef locks the guests in the hall and treats them to fanciful dishes, all symbolizing important events in the chef’s life. Only the girl, Margot, suspects something is amiss and wants to leave the island as soon as possible.

Of course, the guests are here for a reason – they are part of chef Slovik’s cunning plan. But what exactly is he up to? And what do critics, actors, and business people have in common? The film’s first half constantly keeps the viewer in suspense: there are more questions than answers.

Visual imagination The Menu

Director Mark Milod admits that Robert Altman’s hermetic detective novel Gosford Park inspired him. There, the film also places the action in an enclosed space, but surrounds the wealthy guests with the mansion’s servants instead of cooks. Again, the film builds suspense through dialogue, as the characters’ lines hide something sinister and move closer to disaster with every minute.

The similarities are not limited to the script. Milode uses the same visual techniques as Altman: the camera circles around the characters on four walls. The viewer also has nowhere to run.

Music and sound

The film uses restrained and atmospheric music that enhances tension without overshadowing the dialogue. Sound design focuses on subtle details, the clinking of cutlery, kitchen sounds, and quiet conversations, all of which create an unsettling and immersive atmosphere inside the closed space.

Themes The Menu

The Menu also features brutal scenes of violence. In places, the film resembles a muted version of “Saw”: a cunning demiurge gathers people in one place to punish them and resorts to various torture. True, Mark Mylod’s work always stops in time. But, after all, the chef’s character is not a John Kramer-like sadist but an exquisite aesthete. His challenges are more about breaking the spirits of the rich than their bodies.

“The Menu” is more fun than scary. Director Mark Milod and screenwriters Seth Reiss and Will Tracy don’t take their plot too seriously. As a result, the characters in the film are somewhat cartoonish and formulaic. For example, Tyler, played by Nicholas Holt, is a pretentious aesthete. He adores haute cuisine, posing as a gourmet, constantly trying to talk to the chef, and more like a loser geek.

The other guests also have their vices. For example, as a Hollywood actor, John Leguizamo pretends to be a bird of a high flight: he lies about being friends with the boss and talks about his outstanding career achievements. When in fact, he did not really achieve anything in life. And the fashionable critic Lillian searches for hidden meanings in every dish and analyzes the tiniest divisions in the food.

Final Verdict

Fans of cooking and chef shows in the spirit of “Hell’s Kitchen” will surely appreciate “The Menu.” The film offers no real insight into the inner workings, but guarantees hundreds of spectacular food shots. The main disadvantage of the film is that it can work up an appetite. It’s much scarier than rich people, has high art, and even more than hermetically sealed enclosed spaces.

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