Synopsis
Celebrity chef, Julian Slowik, invites a group of avid diners to a private island where he plans
to debut his new tasting menu; full of culinary delights and twists along the way.
In recent years, the popularity of a dining experience has risen with more and more restaurants and private chefs providing a tasty menu. This rise in popularity has caused diners to become more interested in a meal as an event rather than a necessity and with no expense spared.
Would you, however, go as far as spending roughly £1500 on a seven course tasting menu with an infamous chef, which includes locally harvested scallops and huge grass fed cows; all set against a backdrop of a private island? That’s exactly what food-obsessed Tyler Ledford (played by Nicolas Hoult) and his date Margot Mills (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) paid to dine at the exclusive Hawthorn, with several other characters alike. Unlike Tyler, Margot has little to no interest in the whole experience, much to the annoyance of Ledford who scolds her for having a smoke before boarding the boat to the island because it will “kill her palette”.
As each diner arrives on the island, we are met with a wide variety of people who all believe they are of the utmost importance and privilege to be dining with chef Slowik. There is a food critic with her publisher eager to taste the new menu, a failing movie star and his assistant who claims to be best friends with the chef, a couple who are frequent diners on the island and a group of co-workers whose boss is funding the trip. Lastly, but by no means least, we are introduced to Julian Slowik himself (played by Ralph Fiennes) and his maitre d’hotel Elsa (played by Hong Chau) who are both eccentric individuals who behave in an unsettling manner.
Their strange behaviours become more prevalent throughout each course, with Slowik introducing a new dish with depressing monologues about his past which doesn’t appear to phase the diners apart from Margot herself. The kitchen is run in a meticulous fashion, with the staff answering the chef in a regimented and cult-like manner and moving throughout the kitchen as one. The viewer is included in each course as, for those of us who have been lucky to dine at such an experience will know, the key to each dish is the presentation and accompanying wine pairing which the sommelier so expertly describes, regardless of what chaos is going on around them.
It is no surprise that not all is as it seems and without giving anything away, as the night progresses it is Margot who is the only one who questions any of the dishes or actions of the domineering Slowik. The snobbery and entitlement that emanates from the other diners, no matter what they are being served, is in stark contrast to Margot’s utter delusion about the whole affair and particularly her relationship with Tyler; who we quickly realise cares about the experience more than anything else. The story oozes culinary snobbery and capitalism, demonstrating the lengths of what some people would go to, to just say “I have been there, done that”, expertly executed by two writers who are known for their credentials on the HBO show Succession.
Fiennes nails the role of Slowik from the outset, as we know right away the love and passion he has for his staff and restaurant in comparison to the disdain and hatred he has for the diners. Taylor-Joy plays the outsider looking in, who, at each turn, isn’t afraid to speak her mind and question the actions of Fiennes’ character, allowing them to share a bond much to the dismay of Hoult’s character.
As the film comes to a close, the last course is described as an “ending that ties everything together conceptually”, much for what can be said for the whole film.
Verdict
While it does have some flaws in the tale, The Menu is a horror comedy that provides just enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes and enough laughs to keep your belly full.
Written by Therese Rea | BanterFlix Editorial Team