“Please don’t smoke,” implores Nicholas Hoult’s Tyler to his dinner date early on in “The Menu,” which hit theaters this past week. “It will kill your palate.”
Anya Taylor-Joy’s Margot isn’t too concerned about that, but she begrudgingly puts out her cigarette.
Margot and other diners will have more to be concerned about than their taste buds as “The Menu” — a mostly delicious satire of the high-end culinary world that sautees its comedy and horror elements together with a chef’s touch — gradually reveals its flavorful secrets and zesty surprises.
A foodie who has secured a table for two at the exclusive and VERY pricey Hawthorn — a restaurant on a coastal island in the Pacific Northwest, where diners arrive by boat for an exquisite multicourse experience — Tyler explains to Margot that while others idolize athletes and musicians, he worships chefs, kitchen masters such as Hawthorn Executive Chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes).
While working within their artistic medium, Tyler says, they manipulate the elements of life itself.
“And death itself,” he adds.
Gulp.
Others dining at Hawthorn this night: tech bros Bryce (Rob Yang, “The Kitchen”), Soren (Arturo Castro, “Broad City”) and Dave (Mark St. Cyr, “Marshall”); wealthy couple and repeat clients Anne (Judith Light, “Transparent”) and Richard (Reed Birney, “The Hunt”); a never-named fading movie star (John Leguizamo, “Moulin Rouge!”) and his assistant, Felicity (Aimee Carrero, “The Offer”); and renowned restaurant critic Lillian Bloom (Janet McTeer, “Ozark”) — who takes credit for putting Julian on the map — and her suck-up magazine editor, Ted (Paul Adelstein, “Intolerable Cruelty”).
On the boat over, they are treated to an oyster appetizer that incorporates algae.
“Pond scum,” Margot notes.
Margot’s arrival at the restaurant clearly gives pause to the head of the restaurant’s staff, Elsa (an excellent Hong Chau of “Downsizing”), who notes that Tyler was to have brought another woman.
After a tour of the island — during which Tyler delights in smelling a would-be future dish ingredient and the guests visit a smokehouse and the staff’s close quarters (but aren’t allowed into the chef’s cottage) — they are seated.
With the help of his highly trained staff, Slowik begins to proceed over dinner, which begins with an artful amuse-bouche. Tyler is in heaven, but he already is breaking the rule about not photographing the food.
Chef soon delivers a dissertation on the enduring importance of bread, a peasant food; because his guests are not “common people,” however, they are getting no bread but instead a “breadless bread plate” consisting of “unaccompanied accompaniments.”
To Margot, this is Slowik insulting his guests; to Tyler, it’s a genius weaving a compelling narrative.
The real, um, fun begins with a mid-dinner course known as “The Mess.” We’ll say no more about that.
The courses’ titles and their respective descriptions, presented via text on the screen next to a photo of the dish, are a nice touch in “The Menu” — one of many from director Mark Mylod. In the director’s chair for a handful of “Game of Thrones” episodes and more than a third of another HBO hit series, “Succession.” He gives “The Menu” the kind of purposeful pacing often lacking from many a meandering installment of The Roy Family Fun Hour.
He’s working from a screenplay by Will Tracy (“Succession”) — whose inspiration for the story stems from a visit to an upscale restaurant on a private Island in Norway — and Tracy’s longtime screenwriting partner, Seth Reiss (“Late Night with Seth Meyers”). They’ve done some very tasty work when it comes to the descriptions of both the food and the carefully paired wines, one of which boasts, among other qualities, a faint hint of regret.
They are only so successful, however, at explaining all the motivations of those working under Slowik, if not his. Chef lays out in great detail why he has meticulously prepared this particular menu for this very specific — minus one — group of diners.
Of course, this is satire, so we don’t really need all that much in the way of explanation. We’re content to sit back and enjoy Slowik’s truly unique spin on “Taco Tuesday” with one of his courses. (You’ve never seen tortillas like these.)
As for the performances, “The Menu,” is, obviously, an ensemble affair, with many fine ingredients going into this memorable stew.
While we hoped for a bit more screentime for Hoult — absolutely magnificent on the, well, great Hulu series “The Great” — we can’t complain about Taylor-Joy taking center stage. As the actress has in “The Queen’s Gambit” and myriad movies including “Emma” and “Last Night in Soho,” she commands your attention whenever the camera stays on her.
But while veteran actor Fiennes (“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Dig”) is solid, you can imagine several others doing a bit more with the meaty role.
“The Menu” is sumptuous enough to keep you on the edge of your seat as you ponder how all this will end for both the customers and the staff. We won’t give that away, of course, but we must say it’s a little disappointing that, as so often is the case with tales involving the extreme end of gourmet food presentation, there must be a lesson baked in there about giving a dinner something he or she would actually enjoy eating.
Speaking of “eating,” that is not what Slowik wants from his guests. He implores them instead to taste, to savor, to consider — not to “eat.”
Despite a mildly disappointing course or two, “The Menu” is a movie well worth tasting and savoring, if not considering all that seriously.
Oh, and be sure to save room for the dessert course. It’s a real doozy.
“The Menu” is rated R for strong/disturbing violent content, language throughout and some sexual references. Runtime: 1 hour, 47 minutes.
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