The Menu (2022)

[SlovakPrincess]

Ok, that cheeseburger looked really good.  Also ... the birthday cake.  Sadly, nobody touched it ... I would've been stress-eating that whole cake.  😁  

There were a few things about the movie I would nitpick, but overall?  Great fun, very well acted (especially Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes) and a tightly-written, not-overlong thriller that I really enjoyed.  

I liked the fact that Margot saved herself by giving the crazy Chef a moment of happiness and nostalgia in his work again.  Interesting that the Chef mentioned nobody had tried very hard to fight back ... except Margot, who was suspicious of everything from the start, and had more of an opportunity to form a plan.   

It sort of broke my heart when Margot looked back one last time and Judith Light's character slightly waved to her, like, "save yourself, it's ok."  I felt really bad for that character (although I suppose there's an argument to be made, given her husband's ... uh, sex talk ... that he may have victimized their daughter in the past and she knew or should've known).  

As for nitpicks ... the very last scene, where Margot almost smiles a little at the burning island was odd, or maybe I misread her facial expression.  Also, I could sort of see Chef's crazy cult of chefs (who he's been emotionally abusing for who knows how long) being brainwashed to die, and the spoiled, dysfunctional guests being so overwhelmed by the situation they eventually give up ... but Tyler being ready to die from the outset and that much of a foodie was nuts.  

[voiceover]

I missed the first 20 minutes (and damn it! not being shown again during the HBO freebie-weekend), but knew something of the plot, so I was okay to follow along.

Having dabbled in the periphery of the restaurant biz (okay: dabbled with a chef IYKWIM), albeit prior to the “foam-as-food” era, the Unappreciated Artist through-line pinged hard.  The movie it reminded me of (based on a play which was based on a novel) is Ten Little Indians.  It’s all there: mostly upperclass guests, lured to an island under pretense; a mysterious host with a theme-specific vendetta against each; fate sealed upon arrival.

Ps: Former Girl Scout here, and the classic s’more of Hershey/Kraft Jet-puffed/Honey Maids is American dessert perfection, and you’ll never convince me otherwise.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 2/3/2023 at 11:45 PM, voiceover said:

I missed the first 20 minutes (and damn it! not being shown again during the HBO freebie-weekend), but knew something of the plot, so I was okay to follow along.

The message on my DirecTV grid thing says the free HBO runs until Tuesday morning, and The Menu is on HBO Signature late Monday night (12:50am Eastern) so you might be able to catch the first 20 minutes.

[blackwing]

This movie was interesting, I'm glad I was unspoiled for it.  Based on the blurb on the box, I thought it was going to be revealed that the menu consisted of people parts.  Had no idea that any of what happened actually was going to happen.

On 11/28/2022 at 3:41 PM, AimingforYoko said:

Here's what I didn't get: Why did they all so willingly follow Slowik into the incinerator? I figure a few proteges at best would get sucked in that deep, but everybody?

I didn't understand that either.  I don't understand why the entire staff knew they were going to die and just willingly accepted it.  The sous chef that ate a gun, all the line cooks.  Elsa knew she would die, I guess not in the way she ended up dying, but I question why they all just blindly followed this crazy man.  I guess it was like a cult.

On 1/29/2023 at 5:20 PM, paramitch said:

I also absolutely question that the diners did not rebel and try harder to escape. Why didn't they? Easy answer: the script needed them not to.

Agreed, why didn't they try harder to escape?  I have to assume that the staff wasn't going to let them.

On 2/1/2023 at 7:43 PM, Spartan Girl said:

With the exception of the cheeseburger, everything on the menu didn’t even look remotely tasty. It was fancy to look at, but I wouldn’t eat it. Not even the tacos lol.

I think that was the whole point.  I thought he did it on purpose.  Like "The Emperor's New Clothes".  I mean, he served a breadless bread plate that was just sauces and spreads.  It was ridiculous.  But people like Nicholas Hoult were fawning over it and calling it brilliant.  The menu exposed the snobbishness of the rich people.  So I guess Margot is the only one that sees that the chef is naked?

[MisterGlass]

I enjoyed the mix of gothic horror excess and black comedy.  This put me in mind a little of the Hannibal TV series, what with the sophisticated food and death.

Regarding the deaths of the chef's staff, while they were following the chef's lead on the night, it's stated a couple of times that they were in on the planning of this mass murder/suicide.  There was the first sous chef admitting that he would never be a great success and this wasn't the life he wanted, and the second sous chef said that everyone dying was her idea.  They were miserable.

I believe the barrel was the accelerant for the fire.

[Shannon L.]

On 2/7/2023 at 2:45 PM, blackwing said:

I think that was the whole point.  I thought he did it on purpose.  Like "The Emperor's New Clothes".  I mean, he served a breadless bread plate that was just sauces and spreads.  It was ridiculous.  But people like Nicholas Hoult were fawning over it and calling it brilliant.  The menu exposed the snobbishness of the rich people.  So I guess Margot is the only one that sees that the chef is naked?

This is exactly what I thought the movie was about (except I was thinking foodies in general, although, I guess most of them are wealthy).  I think he had gotten to the point where he was tired of it, which is why Margo was so successful by asking for a cheeseburger. She understood that food didn't have to be fancy to be enjoyable--in fact, sometimes it's the common things that taste the best. I think that's why they died as s'mores--it's a messy dessert made of basic, lower quality food, but so good (to many people, anyway).  Odds are, they couldn't understand that because it wasn't fancy.

[Angeleyes]

For those of you that enjoyed this movie, there’s a new movie out on Netflix called Hunger with a similar vibe (obviously a different kind of plot though) as this movie. It’s based out of Thailand, but we watched it in English with subtitles. 

[Suzn]

It held my interest and I wanted to see how it came out and that's about the most positive thing I can say.  It was just unpleasant people doing unpleasant things.

I get the satire of foodies and all their pretentions and the concept is amusing enough but it's not a dramatically new concept that they are ridiculous.  They can't be any sillier than stuff presented on Top Chef such as people having to pick up their plates and lick them. 

I just wish I'd enjoyed watching this.

[Milburn Stone]

On 9/3/2023 at 7:20 PM, Suzn said:

the concept is amusing enough but it's not a dramatically new concept

I watched the first ten or fifteen minutes and felt the same. I've never seen Top Chef but I have seen both Knives Out movies, some episodes of Below Deck, all of Succession, a bunch of Agatha Christie movies, and at least forty other things that made me say been there done that.