The Menu

The Menu is an American black comedy horror film directed by Mark Mylod and written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy. Produced by Adam McKay and Betsy Koch through their production banner Hyperobject Industries, it stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult as a young couple who travel to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant run by a mysterious chef, played by Ralph Fiennes. Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Judith Light, and John Leguizamo also appear in supporting roles.
The Menu premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2022, and has released on November 18, 2022, by Searchlight Pictures.
==Premise (includes spoilers)==
The opening scene of the movie is set in a pier in a US city, possibly Miami. Margot, the protagonist, lights a cigarette and asks Tyler when their boat will come, before questioning him on how the restaurant possibly makes money. Tyler responds, stating that it costs "$1200 a head", Margot teased him, asking if they are "eating a fucking rolex or something?" 
The boat comes and takes them away, along with 10 other guests. Once they arrive at the island, head chef Elsa gives a tour of the island outdoors, then they are introduced to the actual restaurant. A vault door closes before Margot, who is the last to enter, before they are presented with their first course. At the dinner are 3 finance bro's, Margot and Tyler, a billionaire couple in their 60s, a food critic and her assistant, and a famous actor and his assistant.
Margot questions Tyler on why they take their craft of food so seriously - Tyler responds with an in-depth philosophical answer, explaining that Chef Slowik is playing with entire eco-systems and cooking with the materials of life and death. Evening begins to set at the Hawthorne diner. The cooks are positioned at the front, with guests further back and at the very back sits large glass panes over looking the island - positioned in such a way that everyone is visible at all times in the rectangular restaurant. 
During the first course, it becomes clear that Chef Slowik is making the meals an intellectual exercise, he explains, before giving the food, that bread is the food of common people. He then goes on to explain that the 12 guests in his diner are far from the common people - thus they will not be getting any bread. All that is presented are various sauces, but no bread. The "finance bros" ask for some bread, but are bluntly denied. Lillian comments that the emulsion from one of the sauces is slightly broken. 5 minutes later, Elsa presents her with more broken emulsion. Towards the end of the movie, Lillian is waterboarded with the broken emulsion.
As the first course draws to a close, Slowik claps his hands together again to capture the attention of the guests. Margot is startled and quietly asks Tyler whether he is going to keep doing that. He grabs one of the cook's and asks him a series of questions, the final one being whether he would be Chef Slowik and live his life if presented the opportunity to do so. The young male cook in his 20s answers with a no, before taking out a revolver, and shooting himself in the head. All the guests are startled and briefly distraught, aided by the calm manner of the staff as they nonchalantly drag his body out of view. Due to their overly calm demeanor, most guests generally agree that it was a crude prank or some kind of trick. 
The tortilla part is the third course of the dinner, where Chef Slowik serves each guest a tortilla with a laser-printed image on it. The images reveal uncomfortable truths about each guest, such as affairs, embezzlement, fraud, and plagiarism. For example, Tyler’s tortilla shows a screenshot of his Instagram account, where he posted photos of every dish he ate at Hawthorn, despite being told not to do so by Slowik. Margot’s tortilla shows her real name and occupation as an escort. Lillian’s tortilla shows a negative review she wrote about Slowik’s previous restaurant. Richard’s tortilla shows a bank statement that proves he was laundering money. Anne’s tortilla shows a photo of her kissing another man. George’s tortilla shows a headline that calls him a washed-up actor. Felicity’s tortilla shows a script that she wrote but George stole and claimed as his own. Soren, Dave, and Bryce’s tortillas show documents that implicate them in a Ponzi scheme. Linda’s tortilla shows a letter from Slowik’s father that reveals he left her because of her alcoholism.
The tortilla part is meant to expose the guests’ sins and make them feel guilty and ashamed. It also foreshadows the violent events that will follow in the next courses. It causes confusion and unsettlement with the guests.
What happens next is that the fourth course begins, where Chef Slowik serves a dish made of human flesh. He reveals that he killed his sous-chef Jeremy and cooked him for the guests. Jeremy then appears on a screen and confirms that he agreed to be part of Slowik’s plan. He then shoots himself in the head, shocking the guests. Richard tries to escape, but the staff cut off his finger and lock him in a freezer. Slowik then drowns his investor Doug in a tank of water. The fifth course is where things get even more twisted. Slowik allows himself to be stabbed by Katherine, a female employee whom he sexually harassed. He then splits the guests into two groups: the women dine with Katherine, while the men are given a chance to escape the island by playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Slowik’s staff. However, none of them manage to get away, and they are all killed one by one. Margot is the only one who tries to stop Slowik and save the others, but she faces many obstacles and dangers along the way.
While the women dined, the assistant of the movie star asks Katherine if they are really going to die here. Katherine nods and explains that "it doesn't work, if you live." Lillian Bloom, the food critic, asks what doesn't work. "The menu." Katherine firmly responds. "Otherwise the food just tastes good and nobody cares." Lillian says that she could help her, to which Katherine raises an eyebrow. "Look what I mean is...[chuckle], well, we'd just have to talk about, you know [another chuckle]...the dying part." Katherine responds by saying that everyone dying was actually her idea and that was super proud and excited to see it in action. The women give up and drink wine. 
Meanwhile, the men are hunted down one by one. The last man hides in the closet of a hut, before a hand emerges from the window and presents him with a dish, stating that the last to be caught is given this. The man is one of the finance bros, he gives up and thanks them. The camera cuts to a stock video of the dish, as if everything were normal. Lillian is later waterboaAt one point, Margot is given a choice, to die with the staff, or to die with the customers. She is given 15 minutes to choose. The reason behind this is that Margot is deemed "special" by Slowik because she was not actually in the guests list. Tyler was initially going to bring his girlfriend with him, however she broke up with him, hence why Margot (being a prostitute) was instead called up to be with Tyler. After 15 minutes, Margot is called into Slowik's office and asked what her decision is. She chooses to die with the staff. Tyler is given the opportunity to join the staff team. Tyler is a foodie and is obsessed with Chef Slowik's work, and he is excited to make some food. The food he gives for the second last course is not up to standards, so the Chef whispers something into his ear. Tyler looks upset, nods somberly, before disappearing into one of the rooms.
Chef Slowik accepts her decision and gives her a task, as a new staff member, which is to retrieve barrels from the other side of the island. Margot leaves the main diner and as she makes her way out, encounters the body of Tyler. He had hanged himself, in shame. It is likely that he killed himself to redeem himself, and prove his dedication to Chef Slowik. Margot does as she is told, seeing that there are no boats on the island and there is no way to escape, she decides to go the shed where the barrels are. In doing so, she encounters old photos of Chef Slowik - happy and excited, even though he was only selling street food. Margot hatches out a plan.
She encounters Elsa shortly after, and gets into a fight with her. The struggle ends with a knife in Elsa's chest. Margot finds a radio near the old photos in the shed, and uses it to contact the coast guard. Before we actually hear Margot's request for assistance from the coast guard, the scene abruptly cuts back to to the diner, where the guests are reunited once again. As they sit there awaiting one of the last courses, a bright light from one of the window's (it is nighttime by now) moves into the picture, and the sound of a large ship is also heard. Margot smiles slyly at Slowik, who states that their sacred bond of trust has been broken. 
A coast guard officer arrives, to the relief of the guests. The staff act like everything is normal, covering up any blood or hints of abuse. He paces around the room, slightly suspicious, but concludes nothing serious is happening, despite the call for assistance. He turns to leave, before recognizing the washed-out movie star and quickly goes to him for an autograph. He then turns to leave for real this time, satisfied with his autograph. He reads what is on the note as he walks out, and is immediately startled. His hand is seen gripping a gun, before he rapidly turns around and orders everyone on the floor. It is revealed that the note did not contain an autograph, but a cry for help. 
After about 30 seconds of ordering Chef Slowik onto his knees and attempting to discern what is causing the bizarre situation, his gun slowly comes down and is used to light a candle, to the dismay of the guests. He leaves character and dons the uniform of a cook, before briefly hugging Chef Slowik and taking his place near the other cooks. The radio was fake. 
The final main course is presented, and by now, everyone knows what is about to happen. Margot disregards the food in front of her, and the situation becomes tense. She decides enough is enough, and stands up to clap her hands loudly, the same way Chef Slowik does at the start of each course. She states firmly, "I don't like your food", and all side-chatter is immediately halted as the guests are shocked by how direct Margot is being. She exchanges with Chef Slowik, expressing that she thinks it is complete "bullshit" that each course is some intellectual exercise rather than something "you want to sit and enjoy". She also states that the worst part is that she is "still fucking hungry". Chef Slowik asks her what she is hungry for, to which she asks Slowik if he wants to know what she really wants. Slowik responds and says "Tell me." Margot does so, and informs the Chef that she would like a cheeseburger. Before elaborating that she wants a "real fucking cheeseburger, not some deconstructed avant bullshit." Chef Slowik agrees and says "We could do a cheeseburger. The one your parents could never afford." Margot says, "I don't think you can." Chef Slowik tells Margot that he will cook her "a very nice, very traditional cheesburger." Satisfied, Margot returns to her seat. 
The guests watch intently as Chef Slowik presents Margot with a tasty-looking cheeseburger, she asks if she can "get the rest to go". The clever phrasing in place so that she can ask for her freedom without saying it directly. Chef Slowik, looking deflated, says he understands and gives her a box of her burgers-to-go. Despite it being useless, Margot symbolically asks how much it will cost, and slaps $10 on the table, before leaving. She takes one look at the others, the camera pans to each guest. It is only until the elderly, fashionable, billionaire wife slyly nods at her that she is empowered to leave. It's worth noting that the billionaire wife also told her husband (who had his finger cut-off when he demanded to leave at the start of the menu), that Margot looks like their dead daughter. The husband tells her to stop being ridiculous. With this, Margot leaves and finds a designated boat, desperately attempting to get it to work and hoping that it is not another one of the chef's tricks. It is midnight, by now. Chef Slowik states that the only way to become completely pure at this stage is to burn, and that it is now time for dessert. All guests are casted around a marshmellow, and Chef Slowik goes on a rant about how much better marshmellows are when cooked, comparing the popular treat to his own guests. Slowik then spreads gasoline around. Satisfied, he sets it all on fire and the compound explodes. The explosion is seen as a reflection on Margot's eyes, who knows that by now everyone is dead (by now she has also gotten her boat working and is sailing away from the island). She briefly pauses the boat, to stop the irritating sound of machinery at work, before watching the explosion. The scene ends as she uses a copy of the menu to wipe her mouth, while eating her cheeseburger.
==Cast==
* Ralph Fiennes as Chef Slowik
* Anya Taylor-Joy as Margot
* Nicholas Hoult as Tyler
* Hong Chau as Elsa
* Janet McTeer as Lillian Bloom
* Judith Light as Anne
* John Leguizamo as a movie star
* Reed Birney as Richard
* Paul Adelstein as Lillian's editor
* Aimee Carrero as Felicity
* Arturo Castro as Soren
* Mark St. Cyr as Dave
* Rob Yang as Bryce
* Rebecca Koon as Linda
* Peter Grosz
==Production==
In April 2019, it was announced that Emma Stone and Ralph Fiennes would star in The Menu, with Alexander Payne attached to direct. In December, the screenplay appeared on the annual Black List, a survey showcasing the most popular films still in development. By May 2020, Searchlight Pictures held the distribution rights, and Payne and Stone had left the film due to scheduling conflicts, with Mark Mylod replacing Payne as director.
In June 2021, Fiennes rejoined the cast, with Anya Taylor-Joy in negotiations to star to replace Stone. She would be confirmed the next month, in addition to Hong Chau and Nicholas Hoult joining the cast. John Leguizamo, Janet McTeer, Judith Light, Reed Birney, Rob Yang, and Aimee Carrero would join in September. In October, Paul Adelstein, Arturo Castro, Mark St. Cyr, Rebecca Koon, and Peter Grosz were confirmed as part of the ensemble cast.
Filming began on September 3, 2021, in Savannah, Georgia, with cinematographer Peter Deming. Christopher Tellefsen is the film's editor.
==Release==
The film will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2022. It will make its US premiere at that Fantastic Fest. It is set to be released in theaters on November 18, 2022.
==Videos==
THE MENU - Official Trailer - Searchlight Pictures
==References==
==External links==
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Category:2022 black comedy films
Category:2022 comedy horror films
Category:2020s English-language films
Category:American black comedy films
Category:American comedy horror films
Category:Films directed by Mark Mylod
Category:Films produced by Adam McKay
Category:Films set in restaurants
Category:Films set on islands
Category:Films shot in Savannah, Georgia
Category:Searchlight Pictures films
Category:2022 films
Category:2022 American films
Category:2022 in film
Category:Pages containing Mature Content
Category:Rated R