Release Date: November 18th, 2022
Format: Streaming (Netflix)
Written by: Seth Reiss and Will Tracy
Directed by: Mark Mylod
3.5 Stars
More farcical than searing (pun intended), The Menu is nonetheless deliciously provocative.
Do I wish the film was a bit more serious, a bit more biting (how many food puns can I rack up in this review)? Yes, I do. When the film is at its best, the script from writers Seth Reiss and Will Tracy skewers the pervasive classicism found in the high-end food service industry, in which the working class slaves over dishes that are served to an unappreciative wealthy class, who eat but do not taste.
Lying in ruin in the industry’s wake is nature itself, its flora and fauna that are killed and exquisitely manipulated just to end up on some model’s Instagram or a mindless show on the Food Network.
It’s all disgusting human behavior, if you ask The Menu’s antagonist, Chef Slowik (a tremendous Ralph Fiennes).
But what about the “foodies” you may ask? Isn’t there an entire subculture of culinary aficionados, like The Menu’s protagonist Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), who genuinely appreciate the work of master chefs? Talentless hacks, Chef Slowik believes, who fetishize and commercialize other people’s genius for their own gratification.
It’s a powerful message, but The Menu doesn’t fully commit to it, at least tonally, instead choosing to dabble in satire and absurdity as the movie unfolds (and doing it pretty well I might add).
It makes for a highly entertaining movie, hilarious at times, but it remains a movie that works best when its social commentary is served piping hot.
