The Menu (2022) Review

“The Menu” delves itself in a sense of pretentious charm. The high class meals with side dishes of arrogance and ego. Hawthorn, a restaurant settled on an island on the Pacific Northwest, caters only to the elite. Their menu items reminiscent of their false sense of superiority. But, to quote an old cliche, not all is as it seems. Julian Slowik, a rather militant chef holds, not only his team to their highest standards but his guests as well. His crew is on display. Their art out there for all to see. But the patrons are on trial, too.

As the elite prepared to dine they had no idea that they were all invited for a reason. The dishes weren’t the only things on display. The patrons' faults and sins were out for all to see. And each of them were going to be punished for them.

The fellow cooks were more like machines than humans. Robotically obeying orders with the decree of “Yes Chef”. As you will see in this film, nothing was off limits and they would do whatever was told of them.

Margot, however, was the outsider. Only invited there as a last resort. She went in place of another, going as a date to Tyler, a man desperately trying to impress the Chef. Caring more about appearances he leapt at every opportunity to make himself look good. Often at the detriment of his date. However, unlike the other patrons, she was not afraid to say what needed to be said. She wasn’t struck dumb and speechless by the presence of the Chef and instead of viewing him as superior she viewed him as an equal.

While they all had different faults, obsession was the one common among them. They all, with the exception of Margot, were obsessed with appearance. How they looked to others, inflating their ego while thinking that everyone else was under them.

The movie tells an interesting story of what our past sins can do to us and that sometimes our egos and arrogance needs to be purged.

The acting was phenomenal as, too, was the writing and directing. The story of this film is universal and will make people think about their actions and the repercussions of those actions. Am I saying that the ending was warranted? I can’t say. You’ll have to make that decision for yourselves.

8/10