Menu Film Review
Jan. 14th, 2023 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatJust finished watching the horror satire The Menu on HBO, it's currently streaming on HBO Max.
This film was critically acclaimed, and highly recommended by Chidi. (Chidi hated both the Glass Onion and Nope. I liked the Glass Onion, have not seen Nope.) Petz on my correspondence list - hated The Menu. So it's gotten mixed reviews.
It's a bit too...clever for its own good? Satire is hard to do well, and American film makers tend to go over the top regarding it. As my Dad used to state - they lack subtlety - instead they punch you in the face with the satire. My Dad hated that. And I take after him in that department.
It's a concept over substance piece. Feels like one of those meta or gimmicky horror films that is kind of self-indulgently clever? Reminds me a little of Cabin in the Woods, except I liked Cabin better. And is bit too on the nose in the satire department. Wouldn't call it scary, nor is humorous, outside of maybe one scene. Just kind of...blah? In short, plot and characterization are sacrificed on the altar of thematic concept. These types of films tend to annoy me for the reasons stated above. I don't like satire that jumps up and down and says, "look at me! Aren't I clever? I'm SATIRE!"
I did laugh once. There's an absurd bit, where he tells all the men to run, so his staff can catch them.
The characters are underdeveloped and kind of one note. They aren't important. Nor is the plot, which is kind of simple. Also, Ana Taylor Joy is beginning to feel very one note in her performances - she has the same wide-eyed angry look in every film that I've seen her in to date. Can't say Ralph Fiennes is much better, not that he has much to work with. Nick Holt and Judith Light, along with some of the supporting cast did the best they could with very little to work with. [The other actors of note in it are Nicholas Holt, Raf Fiennes, Judith McTeer, Judith Light, and John Leguizmo.]
The set-up? A young couple, Margo Mills (Ana Taylor-Joy) and Nick Hoult's character (whose name I forget), travel by boat to a remote island restaurant, the Hawthorn, off the coast of Massachustus. You can only get to this remote and prestigious restaurant by boat. And it's invite only. Many of the guests have been to it more than once. The Chef has been featured on television and in magazines as among the best of the best. Celebrated in fact. Twelve guests are invited to the restaurant. It is post-COVID.
The chef has a special five course meal planned, and the menu is specifically prepared for the guests. Each guest researched and invited specifically for this menu.
It soon becomes clear that the chef has nefarious intentions for his guests, and his staff is in on his plan.
No one is likable in this film. I wouldn't say they are unlikable exactly. I don't know enough about anyone in the film to care one way or the other.
And somewhere in the middle of it - I kind of figure out that the writers don't care about their characters either and fully intend on killing every one of them off.
Ana Taylor Joy plays Margo Mills - who wasn't invited to the island, and was a last minute replacement for Nick Hoult's girlfriend who wisely broke up with him two days prior. She comes with Nick Hoult, they are given a brief tour, including walking into the smoke house where only dairy cow meat is processed. It is fermented for 152 days. If it goes over 152 days, the bacteria will set in - and will kill whomever eats it about 24 hours after they ingest the meat, by going straight to their spine and incapacitating them. (This is important to remember - since every detail matters in this piece.)
Turns out Margo is a highly paid escort. She provides a "service" for customers. And one of the guests - had previously hired her to pretend to be his daughter and agree with everything he said. (I think his daughter had died, its not clear and we're never told why.) And this is only brought up - to show that Margo is "a service provider" like the Chef and his staff, and not a "customer" or "taker" like the guests.
Margo's customer or the guy who hired her as his last minute date, Nick Hoult, knew the Chef's plan and came because he's a "fan" or "connoisseur" and had to bring a date.
The other guests, are a down on his luck movie star (Leguizamo) and his manager who is embezzling from him, a couple who kept coming to the restaurant but never really appreciated the food and were there for their anniversary (Judith Light and another actor), a food critic (McTeer) and her Producer, three hedge fund/Angel Investors who work for the guy who owns the island and funds the restaurant, and the chef's drunken mother who looked the other way - when his father abused him and her.
The chef hates Leguizamo's character because he hated the movie the guy starred in. (Calling Doctor Sunshine). It ruined his Saturday.
The food critic shut down various establishments.
The Chef's plan? To torture them with scant food offerings. Which is a riff on how upscale post-modern restaurants offer next to nothing or minuscule portions at absorbent prices as "art" or "fine cuisine". Such as the condiments without the bread. The foam without the oyster. The scallop sitting on a bunch of plants. Beautiful but not exactly edible or satisfying.
In between there are unappetizing bits - such as one of the sous chef's committing suicide, prior to bone marrow and veggies being served. And another bit where a patron (Judith Light's hubby) ring finger gets cut off when he tries to leave. Each dish or course sets up the next bit of narrative. It's a very gimmicky movie - with the meals being metaphors for what is happening onscreen.
The movie is kind of like the Menu - unsatisfying overtly clever, and not enjoyable. It lacks love, and kindness, and has a kind of sneer attached, and bitter resentment stuck on the back of the tongue.
At one point, Taylor Joy is asked whether she's staff or customer, and told either way - she'll die. The suspense is whether she'll escape. And at various points, we think she will. Nick Hoult's character is humiliated by being forced to cook a horrible meal in front of everyone, and afterwards, hangs himself. Joy is then told to go to the smoke house - to bring back a barrel of meat. She takes a detour into the Chef's house, fights off his head sous chef, killing her, and then tours the man's house - discovering he'd once worked at a hamburger franchise, and it was his fondest memory.
There is a funny bit, prior to all of this - where a female sous chef stabs the chef in the thigh with scissors after accusing him of sexual harassment, then all of the male guests are chased by the male sous chefs about the island, while the women eat the female sous chef's prepared course. She informs them that it was her idea that the finale of the meal be - that everyone dies. She's rather proud of this. The women stare at each other, and realize they are doomed.
Taylor Joy does find a radio and calls the coast guard - but the man who comes works for the chef. So, as a last resort, she tells the chef that she wants to send back his food. It's not cooked with love. It is unsatisfying. She didn't want to eat it. It lacked taste. And she's starving. What she wants is a hamburger with American Cheese, and yes, crinkle fries.
So he makes her one with love and care. (I'm remembering the bit from the beginning about how if the cows meat is fermented too long in the smoke house - the bacteria will infect the protein and kill the person who eats it.) Any how he makes her the cheeseburger. She takes one bite. Says her eyes are bigger than her stomach, and she'd like the rest to go. So he gives her the rest to go with a goody bag and she leaves a tip. He lets her go. She gets on the boat, barely gets it to start and takes off. It stops far from the island, and she stares back at it.
The Chef has meanwhile prepared his finale course - the horrible tasteless American dish "Smores" - the guests have marshmellows put around them and chocolate hats, and he sets everyone including himself and his staff on fire. And the island explodes, while Taylor-Joy obliviously eats her hamburger watching it all burn.
The end.
By the way, we're not told if she died because of the bacteria in the over fermented beef - but we are lead to believe she most likely did.
I found it dumb. I'd skip it. Glass Onion in my opinion was more enjoyable.
This reminded me a little of White Lotus, which I also found boring.
This film was critically acclaimed, and highly recommended by Chidi. (Chidi hated both the Glass Onion and Nope. I liked the Glass Onion, have not seen Nope.) Petz on my correspondence list - hated The Menu. So it's gotten mixed reviews.
It's a bit too...clever for its own good? Satire is hard to do well, and American film makers tend to go over the top regarding it. As my Dad used to state - they lack subtlety - instead they punch you in the face with the satire. My Dad hated that. And I take after him in that department.
It's a concept over substance piece. Feels like one of those meta or gimmicky horror films that is kind of self-indulgently clever? Reminds me a little of Cabin in the Woods, except I liked Cabin better. And is bit too on the nose in the satire department. Wouldn't call it scary, nor is humorous, outside of maybe one scene. Just kind of...blah? In short, plot and characterization are sacrificed on the altar of thematic concept. These types of films tend to annoy me for the reasons stated above. I don't like satire that jumps up and down and says, "look at me! Aren't I clever? I'm SATIRE!"
I did laugh once. There's an absurd bit, where he tells all the men to run, so his staff can catch them.
The characters are underdeveloped and kind of one note. They aren't important. Nor is the plot, which is kind of simple. Also, Ana Taylor Joy is beginning to feel very one note in her performances - she has the same wide-eyed angry look in every film that I've seen her in to date. Can't say Ralph Fiennes is much better, not that he has much to work with. Nick Holt and Judith Light, along with some of the supporting cast did the best they could with very little to work with. [The other actors of note in it are Nicholas Holt, Raf Fiennes, Judith McTeer, Judith Light, and John Leguizmo.]
The set-up? A young couple, Margo Mills (Ana Taylor-Joy) and Nick Hoult's character (whose name I forget), travel by boat to a remote island restaurant, the Hawthorn, off the coast of Massachustus. You can only get to this remote and prestigious restaurant by boat. And it's invite only. Many of the guests have been to it more than once. The Chef has been featured on television and in magazines as among the best of the best. Celebrated in fact. Twelve guests are invited to the restaurant. It is post-COVID.
The chef has a special five course meal planned, and the menu is specifically prepared for the guests. Each guest researched and invited specifically for this menu.
It soon becomes clear that the chef has nefarious intentions for his guests, and his staff is in on his plan.
No one is likable in this film. I wouldn't say they are unlikable exactly. I don't know enough about anyone in the film to care one way or the other.
And somewhere in the middle of it - I kind of figure out that the writers don't care about their characters either and fully intend on killing every one of them off.
Ana Taylor Joy plays Margo Mills - who wasn't invited to the island, and was a last minute replacement for Nick Hoult's girlfriend who wisely broke up with him two days prior. She comes with Nick Hoult, they are given a brief tour, including walking into the smoke house where only dairy cow meat is processed. It is fermented for 152 days. If it goes over 152 days, the bacteria will set in - and will kill whomever eats it about 24 hours after they ingest the meat, by going straight to their spine and incapacitating them. (This is important to remember - since every detail matters in this piece.)
Turns out Margo is a highly paid escort. She provides a "service" for customers. And one of the guests - had previously hired her to pretend to be his daughter and agree with everything he said. (I think his daughter had died, its not clear and we're never told why.) And this is only brought up - to show that Margo is "a service provider" like the Chef and his staff, and not a "customer" or "taker" like the guests.
Margo's customer or the guy who hired her as his last minute date, Nick Hoult, knew the Chef's plan and came because he's a "fan" or "connoisseur" and had to bring a date.
The other guests, are a down on his luck movie star (Leguizamo) and his manager who is embezzling from him, a couple who kept coming to the restaurant but never really appreciated the food and were there for their anniversary (Judith Light and another actor), a food critic (McTeer) and her Producer, three hedge fund/Angel Investors who work for the guy who owns the island and funds the restaurant, and the chef's drunken mother who looked the other way - when his father abused him and her.
The chef hates Leguizamo's character because he hated the movie the guy starred in. (Calling Doctor Sunshine). It ruined his Saturday.
The food critic shut down various establishments.
The Chef's plan? To torture them with scant food offerings. Which is a riff on how upscale post-modern restaurants offer next to nothing or minuscule portions at absorbent prices as "art" or "fine cuisine". Such as the condiments without the bread. The foam without the oyster. The scallop sitting on a bunch of plants. Beautiful but not exactly edible or satisfying.
In between there are unappetizing bits - such as one of the sous chef's committing suicide, prior to bone marrow and veggies being served. And another bit where a patron (Judith Light's hubby) ring finger gets cut off when he tries to leave. Each dish or course sets up the next bit of narrative. It's a very gimmicky movie - with the meals being metaphors for what is happening onscreen.
The movie is kind of like the Menu - unsatisfying overtly clever, and not enjoyable. It lacks love, and kindness, and has a kind of sneer attached, and bitter resentment stuck on the back of the tongue.
At one point, Taylor Joy is asked whether she's staff or customer, and told either way - she'll die. The suspense is whether she'll escape. And at various points, we think she will. Nick Hoult's character is humiliated by being forced to cook a horrible meal in front of everyone, and afterwards, hangs himself. Joy is then told to go to the smoke house - to bring back a barrel of meat. She takes a detour into the Chef's house, fights off his head sous chef, killing her, and then tours the man's house - discovering he'd once worked at a hamburger franchise, and it was his fondest memory.
There is a funny bit, prior to all of this - where a female sous chef stabs the chef in the thigh with scissors after accusing him of sexual harassment, then all of the male guests are chased by the male sous chefs about the island, while the women eat the female sous chef's prepared course. She informs them that it was her idea that the finale of the meal be - that everyone dies. She's rather proud of this. The women stare at each other, and realize they are doomed.
Taylor Joy does find a radio and calls the coast guard - but the man who comes works for the chef. So, as a last resort, she tells the chef that she wants to send back his food. It's not cooked with love. It is unsatisfying. She didn't want to eat it. It lacked taste. And she's starving. What she wants is a hamburger with American Cheese, and yes, crinkle fries.
So he makes her one with love and care. (I'm remembering the bit from the beginning about how if the cows meat is fermented too long in the smoke house - the bacteria will infect the protein and kill the person who eats it.) Any how he makes her the cheeseburger. She takes one bite. Says her eyes are bigger than her stomach, and she'd like the rest to go. So he gives her the rest to go with a goody bag and she leaves a tip. He lets her go. She gets on the boat, barely gets it to start and takes off. It stops far from the island, and she stares back at it.
The Chef has meanwhile prepared his finale course - the horrible tasteless American dish "Smores" - the guests have marshmellows put around them and chocolate hats, and he sets everyone including himself and his staff on fire. And the island explodes, while Taylor-Joy obliviously eats her hamburger watching it all burn.
The end.
By the way, we're not told if she died because of the bacteria in the over fermented beef - but we are lead to believe she most likely did.
I found it dumb. I'd skip it. Glass Onion in my opinion was more enjoyable.
This reminded me a little of White Lotus, which I also found boring.