The Menu

A satire through the culinary arts (not original in that respect) that initially combines tension with humour while setting up the characters for a "breaking point" in an exemplary way. But everything it wants to say, it's said in the first half and... And then nothing. In the second half it's just gropes and somehow stumbles to the conclusion. Moreover, after the "break" it's downright woeful in the character work, which retroactively devalues the beginning. Everything is "aptly and sophisticatedly satirised" in the first half and the second half works just fine thanks to the actors, who do their best not to let it sink completely. It should have been a short instead of a feature film. (2022-11-16)

It's been a while since I've enjoyed every single minute of a movie this much. From the start, you never know what’s coming next, which keeps you hooked and entertained throughout. The cast is fantastic, with Ralph Fiennes delivering an especially standout performance. The plot is a blend of horror, drama, and dark comedy, but it balances these elements perfectly without going overboard in any direction. An unexpected delight that's definitely worth watching. (2023-01-16)

Another shallow satirical slurry built on prefabricated procedures and assiduous masking of fast-food ideas with a conceptual masquerade. It’s neither insightful, nor funny, nor shocking. It’s nothing. They invite you in for a refined dining experience and serve you something that looks fancy but tastes like a burger from the drive-through window. No compliments to the chef. (2023-01-07)

A luxury restaurant and a film of similar nature must have a concept, but here, starting from about the fourth course, it began to fall apart in terms of credibility and ideas. Perhaps this is because the characters offer only caricatured traits for a run-of-the-mill satire (except for Hoult’s character, who, due to being deep in the chef's anus, somewhat fails to perceive what’s happening). I bet that if Fiennes took off his chef’s coat, we’d see a dragon tattoo covering his entire back. Nevertheless, it doesn’t change the fact that Mark Mylod should hand in his apron. (2023-01-09)

An entertaining satire, only lightly tinged with horror, that sacrifices pure genre pleasure in the second half, which would have required at least a basic believability of the characters' behaviour to keep the concept going, and, as a result, it ironically becomes part of what it’s mocking. That said, the fun more or less doesn't let up, and the great actors pull it off. (2022-11-17)