Directed by:
Mark MylodCinematography:
Peter DemingComposer:
Colin StetsonCast:
Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Reed Birney, Judith Light, John Leguizamo, Paul Adelstein, Aimee Carrero (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Set in the world of high-end culinary culture, a young couple visits an exclusive destination restaurant on a remote island where the acclaimed chef has prepared a lavish tasting menu, along with some shocking surprises. (Searchlight Pictures US)
Videos (3)
Reviews (9)
A refreshing social horror film that at times pretends to be something more, but in the end doesn't want to be anything else. We like ordinary things and therein lies the twist! Black humour and revenge for the emptiness caused by empty people + the captivating Anya Taylor-Joy are the best ingredients of this culinary treat. It wasn’t completely flawless, but sometimes striving for perfection is enough.
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Mark Mylod brings a new, unique genre to the table and it's a blast. An original cocktail of suffocating, uncomfortable and chair-pinning psychological terror mixed with a light-hearted satirical side, all underscored by original and playful symbolism with excellent acting performances - what more could you ask for? A bunch of ungrateful guests are invited to an exclusive chef's menu on a remote island, but in time things start to happen. The cast is absolutely brilliant, Anya Taylor-Joy is great as always, but clearly the best performance here is given by Ralph Fiennes, I haven't seen such sharp mimicry and heartfelt acting in years, and he gave the character as compelling a personality as he did with Voldemort back then. The story is suspenseful from the start, forcing the viewer with bated breath to follow the unexpected developments of events that escalate to the absurd, there's gore and a surprisingly great and interesting culinary side to all the oddities on the plate. The symbolism comes in a rather large portion, is dispensed in a casual manner, and up until the last few minutes I felt I was shooting for a full five star. But the finale is so strange and odd that I have to take a moment to sort out in my head what they meant by that, and think about whether it's the element that knocks the fifth star off, or the one that makes it even more emphatic and makes me think about The Menu. For now, a strong four-star that will (maybe) morph into a score in time. EDIT: in retrospect, I'm realizing some of the film's flaws and starting to figure out things that were given a rough outline but not followed through or explained in a meaningful way, so I'm sticking with four
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And I was looking forward to Ralph Fiennes so much... If Chef Slowik was supposed to be a demonic psychopath, then my favorite actor made very little effort. His performance did not even come close to his portrayal of Amon Goeth from Schindler's List. Since I know what the actor is capable of, his performance seemed somewhat dull, as if he didn't even want to do it. And similarly, the story itself had a similar effect on me. At first, it seemed interesting, but my interest gradually faded. The film didn't evoke any emotions in me and just passed me by. I'm not saying it was boring; it just didn't make me feel anything; I was completely indifferent to the characters' fates. Plus, I never bought into popular foodie trends. My idea of good food is something that tastes good; I don't need a thirty-page brochure explaining why and in which sector of the plate a piece of cauliflower should be arranged and why the sauce on my plate looks like partially dry brush strokes. Snobbish debates about such plates strongly remind me of similar discussions about visual art, only to find out later that the night guard tripped and accidentally spilled coffee on the wall. / Lesson learned: If someone serves me a stone, they will have their teeth smashed with it.
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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.
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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.
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