Oh what a lovely horrible film.
I thought it was just going to be some light cannibalism but in the end it was so much better and worse than that.
Very weird movie. Somehow I understood it.
Fantastic movie! Suspenseful and not predictable. Overall, a great watch to put you on edge. Plus, it’s always fun to watch the good food in culinary movies. A few nice one-liners as well.
Rated connor 10, normal 8.4
I read the script for this film back in 2019/2020 when it was included on the annual Black List, which documents the favorite unproduced scripts of hundreds of industry executives. At the time, I remember thinking the script was well written and entertaining, but that its absurd premise, specifically toward the finale, went a bit too far for my liking. I'm happy to report that the final film maintains all of positives of the script, while also managing to sell the absurdity thanks to some fantastic performances by the central trio. Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Nicholas Hoult are all brilliant. Beyond that, the film has found ways to add complexity to virtually every character. Skimming through the script now, it's interesting to see how the overall structure is the same, but the details are either different, or missing entirely. While I'd have to do a full read through to be sure, I feel pretty safe in saying that this script benefited heavily from the rewrite process. All in all, a well executed dark comedy that benefits greatly from its writing and cast.
A painstakingly brilliant take with a pinch of social commentary on fine dining, obsession, class, a mockery on the "skewery & pretentious" so-called foodies, served on a platter with dark humour & some fine ass performances from mainly Ralph Fiennes & Taylor-Joy, THE MENU was a riveting and fast paced watch for me. The whole thought process of the movie with the ending which might not be digestive to everyone else was profoundly well executed. Mark Mylod's directorial, it seemed had a minor hint of "SUCCESSION" popping up here and there, with the eery atmospheric pressure & the music of conducive importance. Simply a fun and fine watch.
An ordinary but high-paced movie that makes you watch without getting bored. Good at making you laugh, I think that's the best part of the piece.
However, the driving force for the team to do all these (except the chef) is absent and characters are tiny bit generic.
Overall was fun to watch.
A well done made Movie.
sorry did i watch something different then all of here? what was that? i didnt get it. what was this about? its neither funny nor scary and definitely not thrilling. too many questions and no answers. was not my cup of tea.
With some great acting and a very dark and genius humor, it falls totally apart on the credibility of the secondary characters, specially those that did not know what they were there for and did nothing.
I thought we would have some Hannibal action. Shame we didn't but still a gooden.
I intentionally didn't read any spoilers before this and went into it thinking about other hypothesis that were floating around, so I was a bit split on if I wanted to watch this.
First off, there's nothing particularly gross in this, it's not horror, it's thriller. And it was an interesting, but disturbing, premise that was well acted. If you are on the fence for this because you think they will be doing something really gross or gory, they are not, the twist is unexpected (but revealed about half way through) but not gross.
That's why I prefer an ordinary kebab or burger than this sophisticated inedible thing. ;)
Interesting movie,with unique plot and something we haven't seen in a while.Although i felt like the end wasn't so good i expected more. 7.3/10
It has the virtue of quickly realizing that the anti-consumerist message is running out and turning to other paths, although I'm not sure that between the first course and the dessert the social message will end up being effective. But it is an enjoyable film (delicious would be the best word), which, if viewed with the necessary ignorance of its development, can surprise as much as the menu designed by chef Slowik. "Eating without eating" is the best definition of the superficiality of a society that looks without observing, hears without listening and thinks without deliberating.
Good movie. Is esentially what would have happen if Gordon Ramsey wouldn't have find the lamb sauce.
If this is whats in store for 2023, then 2023 is a good year for movies. A MUST WATCH!
This film did a good job in keeping me interested, but the finale didn’t land well for me. Still I think it’s worth the viewing for those that haven’t watched it.
It's kinda lame of a movie.
The movie just made me want a cheeseburger.
I mean, what the hell do I just watch?
First 70% of the movie is amazing, then the rest came. At first I thought it was a joke, but it wasn’t. The movie was the joke.
Judging from the ratings, this is one of those that you either love or hate, and it was the latter for me. It was so dull that it bored me to the point that my brain started dripping out of my ears. The ending for Margot was pleasant, but that's about it. The movie felt adrift, in an ocean, on a windless day. Hardly will make the mistake of watching this again.
rich people need to go to fucking mcdonalds
I'm not sure what the movie was trying to do. The art it purported to show was superficial (lazy elitism -> bad, bad -> die, art is weird in nonsensical ways). I didn't get the impression that the movie was mocking itself either, saying that the movie itself should be treated with the same superficiality.
More than that though was the sense I got early on that I wouldn't learn or feel anything from the movie. The characters were stereotypes. The plot was obvious and executed mediocrely.
I had no idea what this movie was about so assumed it would be something bland and drama based around eating.
BOY was I wrong.
This similar to a fine dining experience was well presented with a good build up and introduction to the characters and the location. However more like a succulent cheeseburger this had some real meat in it, each course was presented with shock and intrigue as the master plan was realised, as cheese topping the acting was outstanding with ralph fiennes giving one hell of an amazing turn as chef. But all the characters were great, and extra props to Hong Chau as his assistant, she was superb.
For dessert the ending wrapped everything up in a clever and satisfying way that was very smart and popped the cherry on top of the whole experience.
9/10 easily especially if you know nothing going in!!! Excellent!
Fantastic menu. :star::star::star: Ralph Fiennes & Anya Taylor-Joy
the true horror all along was the breadless bread plate
I very much enjoyed this. Some choices I didn’t not like or understand completely but I’m sure that’s just because there was some nuance I was missing. Overall I liked the concept and that i could not directly link it to another piece of work.
The chef invites us to a dinner prepared with obsession. No love, only artsy avant-garde pieces, a unique masterpiece is conceived. It doesn't matter which side you are on, food consumers or taste makers. You will love the pleasant feeling when there is no itch to rewind to dessert. Enjoy!
"Because we're always innovating, and we fear irrelevance, here's an update to a classic..."
Impeccable dish served with the utmost original and delicious ingredients! The Menu exposes the whealthy and the critics on a platter for you to judge, taste, savor and digest. It makes you choose a side between those who give and those who take. The social commentary is very unsubtle and in your face pretty much the whole time just like the dishes which all have a distinguished message to tell. One of my favorites was the Breadless Bread Plate, I thought it made an interesting metaphor with industry workers, the accompaniments don't mean much without it. The acting is astonishing, the dishes look intricate, the thrills are thrilling, the story is predictable and the dark comedy is hit and miss but one thing's for sure it'll make you think and question. Please don't eat The Menu, taste, savor and relish it.
Now I want a cheeseburger!
Can't help but think Margot's speech towards the chef was the movie commenting on itself. It's an alright film to me, I'm satisfied with just being served a cheeseburger
Hit a lot of great notes. Some moments felt a bit out of step, but others were pitch perfect. Recommended!
I'm really hungry right now
You know when you watch a movie with a great premise but you wanted more than what you were offered?
A film to savour. Some of the courses are a little overdone but when the closing credits started to roll, I felt more than satisfied - and hungry for more!
This is the weirdest burger commercial ever.
Comedy? You mean there's supposed to be humour in this? ... Uh. Okay then. Can't tell where, but whatever.
The acting is solid, although I'm not sure it's enough to carry the movie as a whole on its back. In trying to offer criticism, I think it ends up being just like the thing it criticises: cold, obsessive, and indeed in Margot's very own words: "fancy, deconstructed avant-bullshit". After which we are left hungry, too, because despite all the display, there isn't much substance to it at all.
At least they didn't ask for a tip. :joy:
Chefs Table meets Midsommar with a streak of dark humour, The Menu is a tension-filled night out that can't quite balance the richness of it's message with the smoothness of it's cast, but somehow manages to still come out delicious. While I feel a little targeted by this movies critique of the artist/critic dichotomy*, I couldn't shake the feeling that I wasn't fully satiated at the end of this lengthy, multicourse meal; the appetiser didn't match the main course, and worse the dessert was bitter and unbefitting of what preceded it. While on reflection I enjoyed each piece of this movie individually (and there are some very memorable moments throughout), it didn't quite gel together as one cohesive whole for me. Maybe that's by choice, a reflection of the chaos of creation and the immense pressure placed upon the creators by critics such as myself? Eitherway, something feels unfinished, regardless of how delicious the individual courses themselves are. Good, even very good, but not great.
*I will say, the movie has made me feel a little existential with the way it called out critics for not understanding the work that goes into the things they haphazardly cast aside with a sentence and a snarl. As an armchair film reviewer on this very website, I completely teardown peoples work on a near daily basis; work that has taken them years to acquire the knowledge to craft and present to me through the medium of film, just for me to attach a score and a quick review laden with pokes and quips at their expense. As someone who hasn't the foggiest idea of how to even begin to make a movie (outside the basics of point a camera and start rolling), I'm now questioning my position in this creator/consumer situationship I find myself in. To further add to this, I feel like Tyler and his obsession with Slowiks work in respect to my love of video games. I understand the in's and out's of game production, who developed what and a rough year of when it came out, but if I tried to apply any of the knowledge to the actual act of making video games? Well, mine would probably come out bullshit too. The more I muse on this movie and the way it has made me second guess myself, maybe my impression and score will increase with time. Maybe a second viewing is in order for me to fully appreciate everything on show here. We shall see.
it's one of movies that u won't hate or liked so so much, Like u just gonna enjoy and chill while watching it, tho there were some nervous moments so yah they made it good and probably u won't feel bored at any moment and that's really good
so yah
overall Is good
Allow me to take a moment to digest...what an exquisitely dark decadence. Haha, this was undeniably playful yet pitch black comedy/satire. One of the most fun I've had in ages. Amazing 8.8 score for me. Great acting, writing and direction. I didn't want it to end. Take a bow.
Rated Connor 10, normal 8.4
In its attempt to comment on the corruption of the wealthy, The Menu just falls on its face. Best served cold.
Some great tension, some great jokes, an interesting concept. The satire really shined. Ending felt off to me, not because it was bad, just because the Chef was so easy for the main character to manipulate— the power dynamics didn’t really make much sense. If the pov character just gets let go at the end it doesn’t feel satisfying because they didn’t really have to do anything to earn their safety (other than eat a cheeseburger lmao).
A cinematic masterpiece, and probably the best ad for Emergency SOS Apple could ever have asked for.
I had higher expectations but at least no cannibalism.
Based on some of the chef teachers I had, I wouldn’t bet against this being based on a true story some sous chef told over staff meal. They covered all the stereotypical diner types perfectly. The chef, arrogant and tortured in perfect amounts. The staff obedient and competitive to a fault. This is THE quintessential ’successful’ restaurant that every young chef to be wants to work in and then spends years hating and loving every freaking second! Sooooo good.
This movie suffers from leaning too heavily into comedy when really it would work better as a mystery/thriller. However, the comedy threw off the whole tone of the movie as it was hard to take it seriously and the payoff of the mystery in the end felt really lazy. Anya Taylor-Joy was a bright spot but I could not stand her date Tyler who I thought either gave a really bad performance, or was very poorly written.
“The Menu” is a solid thriller than can appeal to a broad audience. I recommend you not to read this review and avoid the trailers, as they are going to spoil part of the fun.
I liked that the movie’s critique is not unilateral towards the consumers that spend millions in shit just to feel superior to the rest of humanity, but also targets the so-called gurus who sold them pretentious shit dressed up as art. It was also interesting to see the master-slave dialectic inverted in a grotesque manner, with the consumers naturally turned into a blindly submissive attitude towards who are supposed to be their servants from the very beginning of the movie.
Although the black humor gets sharper and sharper as the characters’ situation degenerate, I was expecting a more impactful delivery in the end. It felt like the writers had a strong premise in hand but didn’t know how to turn their characters out of trouble without resorting to the usual considerations about classism.
The first mainstream film from director Mark Mylod and writers Seth Reiss and Will Tracy is deliciously funny. It is a black humor film with a very simple plot: the protagonist reaches a place where she soon realizes that something is not right. Will she be able to find the exit? Anya Tayor-Joy is becoming one of my favorite new wave actresses; her presence in each film is captivating and fresh, and The Menu is no exception. It is a film that uses black humor to establish a social criticism. Honestly, the social criticism part falls way short, taking quite a bit to execute, but the humor does work well. Nicholas Hoult is hilariously fatuous. Ralph Fiennes plays the culinary dictator role of him well. It's surprising that almost everything happens in a small restaurant. It could have been better, but as a comedy it doesn't disappoint.
as a chef, i felt incredibly seen through this movie, it highlights so many wrongs in this industry... from the overworked and lifeless cooks to the nitpicky and self indulgent critics in an almost comic manner. all the actors did a splendous job, i had a blast.
Food for thought.
Meaty, well done, and that's rare. One of the best movies I've seen, satisfied my appetite for intelligent scenario and characters.
The Menu
It's an extremely trashy movie, until it gets to the middle, from then on the movie gets good, and a story unfolds as it gets to the end the movie goes back to what it was at the beginning.
The Menu, is a work of "haute cuisine", demonstrating the follies and pressures that a great chef suffers during his trajectory to perfection.
I definitely can't say it's amazing, just a huge fail as far as good storytelling goes. The menu takes participants on a journey through incredible dishes, with ingredients of the highest gastronomic standard. Failures happen, and your participants realize, of course if you discover here lies your life. Appreciate and taste your work, and thus you will live.
Your night is over as soon as you've had dessert, well it would be, if you didn't insult the chef by "saying you prefer a cheeseburger to his super sophisticated food" - And I savored his work, and finally, as in any restaurant, take it to travel and be happy.
The Menu is a great work of haute cuisine and the madness of a psychopath. It never was and never will be a cinematographic work of respect. Good, a movie that you would easily see on a tour of the short and thick catalog of Netflix.
Note for gastronomic night: 10/10
Overall grade: 08/10
Hey - what a brilliant movie! When you enter the cinema you‘re not sure what you can expect. That was my feeling. Perfect actors in perfect roles. And the story ist surprising in a lot of moments. I really enjoyed the film. 10 of 10 points!!!
Went straight to Five Guys for a burger after this. :joy:
This thing is quite annoying, it’s essentially Tár if the protagonist was turned into a cartoon villain and the movie lacked any subtlety in its messaging.
Within 15 minutes I had a grasp on its shtick (artistic ego; pretension; wealthy people being out of touch), and it never surprised me in an interesting way beyond that shtick, so the movie got old for me very fast.
Not only that, but I could see it potentially leaving those who label any piece of art that requires thought as ‘pretentious’ feeling empowered, which we don’t need in a world where people are getting more illiterate by the day. Not that I think that that’s the film’s intention, but it’s the most obvious read and a better director would’ve made sure that the film can’t be interpreted that way.
It’s completely predictable if you’re paying attention, and most of the comedy I found to be absolutely eye rolling; it’s so obvious and on the nose all the time because it keeps recycling the same joke over and over again. Look at these ridiculous, pretentious descriptions for food, aren't we clever? Yes, but maybe don't do that joke for every single course.
The characters are non existent (everybody is playing a caricature), the logic and character motivations are paper thin and the directing/cinematography are completely average.
The only thing I genuinely liked is the acting (Ralph Fiennes is amazing), and I guess it’s decently paced. The food and sets look nice, but this script needed a bunch of rewrites.
4/10
Watched it earlier today. Overall we enjoyed the film. The different characters were fun to see reactions from as the show went on. There are a few of those oh shit moments which help move the story. My only issue would be the ending. Like others have said it just didn't feel complete.
I'll also throw out that if I was paying $1500 for a meal and got served the food they did I'd be pissed.
This was an excellent movie! And so very well played.
Like a entering a discourse with Helen Keller: it's better to go in blind.
The only thing I knew about The Menu beforehand was the poster so I expected a drama along the lines of Boiling Point and, man, was I gaping out loud as the movie quickly rushed to the heart of the matter.
The Menu moves along at a good pace thanks to the stylish directing and the solid story. Sadly, they ran out of surprises by the time they got to the third act, but what they served up until then was enough to tide me over.
A fun send up on class that plays more like a black comedic drama or thriller than a horror film, and when it commits so hard to its concept, I don't mind. Fiennes sell the conceit with disdain for all of these people and himself for assimilating into their world. Hoult is pitch perfect as a smug sycophantic rich foodie, desperate for approval and devoid of any artistry or character. And Taylor-Joy anchors the film as a solid Final Girl. The cost of assimilation is that you'll never truly be one of them, where you came from is always in your soul. And you'll long for it.
Amazing cast, amazing writing. Anya Taylor Joy's best movie.
Absolutely fantastic. A well-executed original idea, packed with brilliant performances, impactful suspense, and many absurd laugh-out-loud moments.
Movie is good, absorbing and definitely worth your time but it is either Anya or Zendaya these days. Seeing the same face in every movie kind of feels weird.
One of the best and most original movies I’ve seen in a while. Edge of your seat stuff every minute whilst throwing in dashes of levity.
9/10 as perfection does not exist
A bizarre, suspenseful, twisted, darkly comic, elegantly crafted horror thriller. This film is aimed to satire upper-class snobs and pretentious critics without coming across as obnoxious. And let's be honest, making fun of snobs will never not be funny. Not only this film nails what it aims for, it offers some nice surprises as well. The suspense continues to just build and build and build. Ralph Fiennes performance in the role of the Chef is simply outstanding. There's something so intimidating about his presence and I really was the edge of my seat the whole time. I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I'm glad that I went in knowing very little about it. Definitely going into my top 2022 horror list.
Is "The Menu" subtle? No! Are the authors of this film perhaps a bit pretentious? Absolutely! Are we being served a profound analysis of the state of our society? Certainly not! Did I have a blast with this episode of "Chef's Table" from Lord Voldemort's restaurant? Hell Yeah!
In all seriousness, "The Menu" is a satire with bitterly dark humor that takes aim at the rich, influencers, and consumerism. The film is carried by the strong performances of Ralph Fiennes and the always wonderful Anya Taylor-Joy. It is well directed and never gets boring. With the right expectations, you can have a great time at the movies.
Saw it in the theatre just now. Several twits and turns. All in all a really good movie, even if you don’t like horror (so if you’re like me).
I somehow liked this movie. It had more than a few oversights, but I found the plot development quite well written.
I loved every second of this movie
if i hadn't gone with my mom i would have cried when i saw the hamburger
Well I'd say they all got roasted huh
for me, it was a little bit unfinished. i wasn't satisfied with the ending, but still a very enjoyable movie. Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy were great in this movie! I really loved their characters, they carried the whole movie.. Too bad I feel unfinished after this movie.
Well, damn.
Actual rating: 8.5/10
We Love You Chef! The mystery of the Menu and its comedic points makes this movie a delightful experience. If you're worried if this movie is too graphic/gory for its horror labeling, a casual movie goer should be able to enjoy it.
It is an experience to watch this movie, I highly recommend it.
I really love the sense of humor this movie has, dark and playful and it’s a blast to watch unravel. While not the same, it kept reminding me of Ready or Not which I feel hits some higher highs for me.
Solid movie. A perfect balance of levity and psych thriller. I didn’t come away feeling 100% satisfied, but it was very enjoyable nonetheless.
No.. to all the comments... you will be surprised.. It's a banger of a movie and I refuse to give any spoilers. Next to Midsummer and Hereditary, my favourite so far!
Calling it now: bet it's cannibalism
Shout by Ydot89VIP 3BlockedParent2023-01-12T15:24:40Z
What a very, very, very, very ofd film. Eating just won’t be the same…