By Gilberto Campa
A good film can be compared to a delicious meal, both can be very filling, entertaining, and often can take you through a plethora of emotions. With The Menu, the latest film by Mark Mylod, that comparison is forcefully felt in a dark, perverted and humorous way. Known for his direction on some of the best episodes of Succession (which is a masterwork in black comedy) Mark Mylod along with an excellent and well-rounded cast have crafted a film that checks all the boxes and leaves you wanting more (and will make you hungry). The art of creating and crafting a black comedy isn’t as easy as it sounds. Some movies often tip over too much into different subgenres and struggle to keep the tone consistent while also keeping the audience engaged, which is what is most important at the end of the day.
Usually, the story may fall too much into comedy and takes you away from what is supposed to make it dark. Those faults I can gladly say are not present in The Menu as from start to finish the film never loses its focal point. I believe that is mostly due to a few factors, the first being the production from Adam McKay, Betsy Koch and Will Ferrell who are masters at comedy and being able to make a crowd-pleasing film with some social commentary that isn’t in your face. And the latter being the masterful performance from Ralph Fiennes as Celebrity Chef Julian Slowik. With a run time of just about 100 minutes (about 1 and a half hours), it goes by fast, but it doesn’t feel rushed as all the main characters are written and expressed very well, which is a testament to the script (which was on the blacklist for a while).
Besides Ralph Fiennes the other big standouts in the movie for me were Anya Taylor-Joy who goes toe to toe with Fiennes in every scene as she continues to cement herself as one of the best actors working today. Nicholas Hoult plays an unforgiveable character but does it with so much humor and awkwardness that it works well, and he’s always very capable of playing any kind of roll that he takes on. The last person that I’ll mention who also did well was Hong Chau who I first noticed in the Watchmen series in 2019. She brought more humor while keeping her sense of mystery and suspense as a character. The film is also an excellent movie going experience as it’s best to go into this movie blind without knowing anything. There are many surprises and character choices that keep you guessing, which is the best feeling to have while watching something. Take the time to catch this in theaters as it is one of the biggest surprises of the year, and a movie that will stick to your stomach like a very hardy meal.
The Verdict:
[…] Gilberto says…”The Menu serves up a delectable & gratifying movie going experience&… […]