The Menu (New Movie) Honest Reviews & Comments

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Yeah, but that doesn't mean I think it's the right way to judge a movie either.
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Not saying I disagree with this statement, just curious as to why those proposed alternatives would be any better.
Not exactly those proposed alternatives. They could have gone with the same story too.
I don't think you got my point. The makers didn't a good job establishing those side characters, which makes their comeupance kinda weak. You dont need long back stories, just well made ones. They did a job establishing the reason around the burger.


I think @Corax explained it better. The tone was all over the palace. Even the intentions of the chef.

Which is why proposed the easier alternative, which was to give those side characters prominent back stories.



Had been planning to have dinner with a friend last night at a similar-level fine-dining establishment in London (though to be fair, as fine dining goes, this wasn’t that expensive of an establishment or anything). Naturally, when you book, they take card details and a pre-payment (to compensate the establishment in case of no-shows, duh).

Now, generally speaking, I don’t tend to bail out on things, be that films or pre-planned engagements. However, this has been a heck of a week so far, I tore a ligament in my leg (not very bad but unpleasant and walking is painful) and some other routine-disrupting events occurred.

Yes, for sure, in an ideal world I could call them and warn the party (of 2) wasn’t coming, especially given the pandemic difficulties restaurants are facing, etc., but until the last minute, I did intend to go. Then I got a last-minute appointment with a physio that very night, meaning timings would be tight, and also I just didn’t feel up to it. Again, the deposit they take is not insignificant, so while it wouldn’t cover a full meal there, it should cover all reasonable ‘costs’ they could incur.

Long story short, as we don’t show up, the restaurant calls me three times while I was at the doctor’s (that I can understand), then sends an email close to midnight (!) advising they would ‘call me tomorrow to understand what happened’ (like I’m a schoolgirl with an unauthorised absence) and then proceed to call me at 10, 10.15 and 10.20 am at the height of a stressful day. And no, I really don’t see why on Earth I’m meant to be explaining this stuff about my ligament to them. I’ve bailed out of restaurant reservations just because I wanted to stay home and really loved the show I was watching, so this just seems outlandish.

In terms of ‘extending a business a courtesy’, this business is… not small, and customers rarely see courtesies returned to them, especially in recent times.

Not particularly relevant, I suppose, but the experience did give me a new appreciation of The Menu. I like good food and spend time seeking it out, but I’m in no way a foodie and that’s put me off such pretentious, obnoxious shit for life, so again, I suddenly understand much better what the director was getting at and how surreal it looks ‘in the real world’.



Had been planning to have dinner with a friend last night at a similar level fine-dining establishment in London (though to be fair, as fine dining goes, this wasn’t that expensive of an establishment or anything). Naturally, when you book, they take card details and a pre-payment (to compensate the establishment in case of no-shows, duh).

Now, generally speaking, I don’t tend to bail out on things, be that films or pre-planned engagements. However, this has been a heck of a week so far, I tore a ligament in my leg (not very bad but unpleasant and walking is painful) and some other routine-disrupting events occurred.

Yes, for sure, in an ideal world I could call them and warn the party (of 2) wasn’t coming, especially given the pandemic difficulties restaurants are facing, etc., but until the last minute, I did intend to go. Then I got a last-minute appointment with a physio that very night, meaning timings would be tight, and also I just didn’t feel up to it. Again, the deposit they take is not insignificant, so while it wouldn’t cover a full meal there, it should cover all reasonable ‘costs’ they could incur.

Long story short, as we don’t show up, the restaurant calls me three times while I was at the doctor’s (that I can understand), then sends an email close to midnight (!) advising they would ‘call me tomorrow to understand what happened’ (like I’m a schoolgirl with an unauthorised absence) and then proceed to call me at 10, 10.15 and 10.20 am at the height of a stressful day. And no, I really don’t see why on Earth I’m meant to be explaining this stuff about my ligament to them. I’ve bailed out of restaurant reservations just because I wanted to stay home and really loved the show I was watching, so this just seems outlandish.

In terms of ‘extending a business a courtesy’, this business is… not small, and customers rarely see curtesies returned to them, especially in recent times.

Not particularly relevant, I suppose, but the experience did give me a new appreciation of The Menu. I like good food and spend time seeking it out, but I’m in no way a foodie and that’s put me off such pretentious, obnoxious shit for life, so again, I suddenly understand much better what the director was getting at and how surreal it looks ‘in the real world’.
Wow, that's obnoxious. The customer isn't always right, but a restaurant isn't moral court either. There is something to be said for taking an art or craft seriously, but...





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Huh. Your responses surprise me. I loved the movie. Very much my kind of film. I thought it was hilarious; a delicious dark satire about the world of haute cuisine. It did drag in some places. Was it heavy handed? Absolutely. Was it a ludicrous premise? Absolutely. But, these aspects only serve to bolster the original premise through extreme caricature. I was a little disappointed with the ending, but a really great ending is difficult to land. Overall, I gave the film 8/10 and recommended it to others.



The Menu is kind of a weird one for me. From the trailer/reviews, I expected it to be this forgettable fluff that I'd end up giving a
or
. And instead it landed at more of a
. There's a degree to which I can't explain totally why I enjoyed it so much. I know that I liked the reveals/development of Hoult's character, as well as the evolving dynamics of the cooking staff/chef. For me it seemed to both have some lazy, unexplored cliche characters and also kind of rise above that? I don't know. It doesn't really surprise me that some people think it's bad.



I think the 'eat the rich' element is being over stated in this film. I think that is definitely one point of mockery, as many things are here, but for me the centre of this film is what must often seem like the empty and pointless exercise of being an artist. What being an artist ultimately means (anything? especially in this kind of company). Or whether the sacrifice is worth becoming great at something when this is who you must appeal to. Either those who simply do not care or understand the work that has been put into (in this case) a life devoted to cooking. Or those that claim to care but who are nothing more than empty and vain vessels who only value the status they gain for being a devotee of the artist and, almost by default, are even more contemptuous to satiate.



Yes, it also mocks the temperament of such artists, because Fiennes is clearly not a sympathetic character, and clearly self-serious artists are ripe for all sorts of mockery (even ones I am particularly in love with, you have to ground your idols sometimes), but all of the other shit about class and whatnot feel like asides to this. The nature of art. The frequently toxic relationship between the artist and their audience. The empty vanity of greatness.



I can't say I actually loved the film all that much. It was alright. I think I liked the general set up more than what actually happens in it.



If The Menu was just "eat the rich" I wouldn't have liked it as much, since that's a comically trite sentiment. It was good because it was broader than that, mocking elites of all kinds.

The most interesting part was the way he seemed most disgusted with himself. And, of course, to see him wrestle with the impossible question of why he creates, whether his satisfaction from it should be contingent on others or not, and if so, how much?

I'd also like to think the movie is smart enough to "know" that, as odious as some of the people in that restaurant are, they don't really deserve what befalls them. And that's part of the challenge of the film: analyzing our own base, tribalistic reactions to something where, even if we like its valence, we cannot condone its degree.

So to speak.



If The Menu was just "eat the rich" I wouldn't have liked it as much, since that's a comically trite sentiment. It was good because it was broader than that, mocking elites of all kinds.

The most interesting part was the way he seemed most disgusted with himself. And, of course, to see him wrestle with the impossible question of why he creates, whether his satisfaction from it should be contingent on others or not, and if so, how much?

I'd also like to think the movie is smart enough to "know" that, as odious as some of the people in that restaurant are, they don't really deserve what befalls them. And that's part of the challenge of the film: analyzing our own base, tribalistic reactions to something where, even if we like its valence, we cannot condone its degree.

So to speak.

I think I feel similarly



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I watched The Menu yesterday, but I don't get what all the hype is about. It almost felt like a weird dark comedy/horror version of And Then There Were None because of the way Chef kept going after the guests one by one, but parts of it just made no sense to me.

WARNING: "SPOILERS about the ENDING of "The Menu"!!!" spoilers below
Why would the sous-chef kill himself just because Chef wanted him to do it? Why did the diners go along with everything that was happening? One person tried to leave, and when the other people saw what happened to him, they just went along with everything instead of trying to fight back as a group?

And at the end, when they knew they were all going to die anyway, they still didn't fight back. They even followed along with all the instructions, including paying their bills. Maybe if they didn't pay their bills, Chef wouldn't have carried out the rest of his plan. Chef seemed to be so strict (and crazy) about the way things had to go as planned that maybe the slightest change, like someone refusing to pay their bill at the end, might have stopped him in his tracks.
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Welcome to the human race...
I watched The Menu yesterday, but I don't get what all the hype is about. It almost felt like a weird dark comedy/horror version of And Then There Were None because of the way Chef kept going after the guests one by one, but parts of it just made no sense to me.

WARNING: "SPOILERS about the ENDING of "The Menu"!!!" spoilers below
Why would the sous-chef kill himself just because Chef wanted him to do it? Why did the diners go along with everything that was happening? One person tried to leave, and when the other people saw what happened to him, they just went along with everything instead of trying to fight back as a group?

And at the end, when they knew they were all going to die anyway, they still didn't fight back. They even followed along with all the instructions, including paying their bills. Maybe if they didn't pay their bills, Chef wouldn't have carried out the rest of his plan. Chef seemed to be so strict (and crazy) about the way things had to go as planned that maybe the slightest change, like someone refusing to pay their bill at the end, might have stopped him in his tracks.
WARNING: "The Menu" spoilers below
A key part of the concept is that Chef is basically a cult leader and all the staff are hopelessly devoted to him, which is why the sous-chef kills himself on Chef's direction (especially with the reason given that he's not up to Chef's standards). As for the diners, they're mostly just idle rich types who wouldn't be capable of overpowering an entire kitchen's worth of staff armed with cooking utensils (and the part of the movie where the male guests are "hunted" also indicates that none of them can fight one-on-one anyway). Add in that the last resort (using a hidden radio to call for help) results in a coast guard who is in on Chef's plot and it makes sense that they've all basically given up trying to escape by the end. Margot only really gets away because she's the only working-class guest with no interest in playing along with fine dining and that makes her sympathetic to Chef and his own upbringing, which is why she's the only one allowed to leave after ordering something simple like a cheeseburger to reaffirm that working-class bond between the two.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
WARNING: "The Menu" spoilers below
A key part of the concept is that Chef is basically a cult leader and all the staff are hopelessly devoted to him, which is why the sous-chef kills himself on Chef's direction (especially with the reason given that he's not up to Chef's standards). As for the diners, they're mostly just idle rich types who wouldn't be capable of overpowering an entire kitchen's worth of staff armed with cooking utensils (and the part of the movie where the male guests are "hunted" also indicates that none of them can fight one-on-one anyway). Add in that the last resort (using a hidden radio to call for help) results in a coast guard who is in on Chef's plot and it makes sense that they've all basically given up trying to escape by the end. Margot only really gets away because she's the only working-class guest with no interest in playing along with fine dining and that makes her sympathetic to Chef and his own upbringing, which is why she's the only one allowed to leave after ordering something simple like a cheeseburger to reaffirm that working-class bond between the two.

WARNING: "SPOILERS about the ENDING of "The Menu"!!!" spoilers below
I understood why Margot was allowed to leave. She wasn't even supposed to be there anyway. She was just a last minute addition because Tyler's girlfriend broke up with him.

But by the time they got to the dessert, (s'mores), they all just sat there, played along, and waited to die. Even if they weren't likely to win, maybe a few of them would have gotten away if they had tried to fight back.

And how stupid did they have to be to actually pay for the "meal"? They already knew they were going to die. Why would they pay for anything at that point?



Welcome to the human race...
WARNING: "SPOILERS about the ENDING of "The Menu"!!!" spoilers below
I understood why Margot was allowed to leave. She wasn't even supposed to be there anyway. She was just a last minute addition because Tyler's girlfriend broke up with him.

But by the time they got to the dessert, (s'mores), they all just sat there, played along, and waited to die. Even if they weren't likely to win, maybe a few of them would have gotten away if they had tried to fight back.

And how stupid did they have to be to actually pay for the "meal"? They already knew they were going to die. Why would they pay for anything at that point?
WARNING: "The Menu" spoilers below
I think if your captors are giving you chance after chance to get away just to show that they will always win - the hunt, the coast guard - then at a certain point it does just break you and you give up. That would also explain why they go through the motions of paying for the meal - if it doesn't make a difference either way, then why bother changing?

But whatever, it's satire and not good satire at that.



The Menu is kind of a weird one for me. From the trailer/reviews, I expected it to be this forgettable fluff that I'd end up giving a
or
. And instead it landed at more of a
. There's a degree to which I can't explain totally why I enjoyed it so much. I know that I liked the reveals/development of Hoult's character, as well as the evolving dynamics of the cooking staff/chef. For me it seemed to both have some lazy, unexplored cliche characters and also kind of rise above that? I don't know. It doesn't really surprise me that some people think it's bad.
I feel the same way & thanks for saving me the trouble of writing more. I enjoyed it rather a lot.
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WARNING: "The Menu" spoilers below
I think if your captors are giving you chance after chance to get away just to show that they will always win - the hunt, the coast guard - then at a certain point it does just break you and you give up. That would also explain why they go through the motions of paying for the meal - if it doesn't make a difference either way, then why bother changing?

But whatever, it's satire and not good satire at that.

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