Mark Mylod (dir.) | Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicolas Hoult (acts.)

Spoiler alert

The most unconventional menu in the history of gastronomy. The Menu is the 4th feature film directed by Mark Mylod, who is famed for a number of TV series even renowned among non-TV audiences, like Game of Thrones, Succession, and Shameless. The Menu begins with a highly affluent group of people voyaging to a private island to taste the food of Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes), one of the most exquisite chefs in the world.

You start scenting the suspicion surrounding the setting while being exposed to the delicate menu specially crafted for this rich band. The menu is beyond merely tasting food or degustation, which the committed chef Slowik reveals with another protagonist: Margot Mills (Anya Taylor-Joy). Ms. Mills appears to find herself in this environment by accident, not only an inconvenience for the menu but also providing insights into Slowik’s personal story, from which we deduce that Chef is onto taking revenge from his past step by step with this extravagant menu. Pointing out a class division, he portrays the world by dividing it into givers and takers, and, thus, inviting Ms. Mills to his camp, givers, though granting no privilege. He is after retribution business with everyone on the island, from which he does not exempt himself. The narrative proceeds with sequences planned for every course that incrementally builds the monolithic story that covers what pulled Slowik to this venture, thanks to his exchange with Ms. Mills.

It would not be wildly inaccurate to argue that Chef, who is excessively popular by the overwhelming demand, is undergoing alienation of labor, a Karl Marx theory. Alienated to his own labor, in other words, his very self, Chef finds these insatiable and selfish people responsible. He further directs the same alienation of labor criticism to his ‘clients,’ who are alienated to their own selves besides himself. Chef accuses them of being insincere, inhumane, and monsters. Yet, he does not only settle with them but also does include himself in this business. The ultimate goal of the night is to obliterate the alienation and break free from the shackles that fetter their real nature. To find their genuine selves and to liberate. And it is where the unlucky Ms. Mills’ rescue rests within, the only moment Slowik flashes back to his authentic self and recalls himself. Chef is resolute in sharing this ideal with his customers, serving his menu course by course.

Established on class struggle and benefitting from Marx’s alienation of labor, The Menu bashes individuals and society, drawing attention to the degradation of humanity and the unnaturalness of selfishness. It levels at the violent and disordered individualism while being able not to spoil. The Menu delivers its audience a well-formulated experience, or namely a menu, to which the soundtrack suits befittingly. The film, with Ralph Fiennes performing iconically, can prospectively grow into a genre cult.

4/5

My Letterboxd

Web pages of The Menu:
The Menu (2022) – IMDb
The Menu (2022) – Letterboxd