AT THE MOVIES

by Isy Jordan

The Menu
Director: Mark Mylod
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, John Leguizamo, and more.

A young couple travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.

I suspected this would be a good film. To be honest, Ralph Fiennes could read the dictionary and I'd show up. I'm not a foodie so I only had an idea of what I might be in for in going to see this film.

It was so much better than that.

Okay Tyler (Hoult) brings Margo (Taylor-Joy) to an exclusive, expensive private dinner on Hawthorne Island. They are in the company of renowned food critic, a movie star, and other afluent guests. They are taken by boat to the island and given a tour before landing in the dining room run by famous chef Julian Slowik.

Without giving anything away, the guests enjoy a carefully crafted menu over several courses for an evening that descends into chaos and mayhem. The film has a lot to say about celebrity culture, foodie culture, and the differences between social classes. The story is well written, well paced, and there's a surprise around every corner.

The film is led by an exceptional cast. Fiennes is an actor I've always admired and his performance here as Chef Slowik is sublime. It's balanced nicely by Taylor-Joy's Margot and the dialogue is exceptionally written. The rest of the cast deliver in a film that's entertaining and horrifying at the same time.

The film is just shy of two hours and is rated R for language, on and off screen violence, and disturbing violent situations. It's a high-brown film and you really need to pay attention to catch all of the nuances. But the ending is very much worth it and not at all what I expected (in a good way). I highly recommend it.

Isy

PS: I still want to know what was behind that silver door.