“The Menu” Review
January 19, 2023
Content warning/editor’s note: This review will feature spoilers for the movie “The Menu.”
“The Menu” is a psychological horror movie, most horror movies you get blood, gore and a murderer, while “The Menu” does involve some blood and a bit of gore, it’s not the type of movie I would sit down and watch for the excitement of being scared.
This movie is about a high-end restaurant on a completely remote island, a very beautiful one at that. All of the workers live there and they have no days off. These sous-chefs are mesmerized by head chef Slowik. While watching, all I could think was, “Where did he find these other chefs that would bow down to him; was he threatening them?” The head chef in the restaurant is also the person behind all of the killings, in order to match the menu that he has specifically arranged for his guests to eat throughout the night. Each dish is perfectly made in taste and looks, and each dish has a story before being served. His plan is for everyone that arrived that night must die, except for Margot.
Each person was invited for a specific reason, for example, The Movie Star played the main part in a famous movie. Chef Slowick had watched this movie on his one day off and he thought it was horrible and his face haunted him. The Movie Stars girlfriend Felicity was very rich no student loans. Chef only cared for people who tasted the food not ate it, so he thought that rich people didn’t care for the art because they can get a bunch of great food and not taste it. I think that this part was smartly planned, I liked that everyone was there for a reason.
Tyler is also a very large character. He invited Margot knowing that everyone would die. Tyler is a food critic and loved the excitement of eating the food and then dying. Chef found out about this and he was killed. From this part in the movie, I can see that chef Slowick has some feelings, maybe it is because Margot was a more mysterious person or because she expressed that she was like him in some way.
We can see that Chef Slowick actually could be a caring person. We see some compassion for his mother and even Margot. Which is why I’m still wondering if he lit his mom on fire with everyone else? Though we don’t know a lot about the backstory with his mother and why he came into the killing, we may be able to infer that his mother may have been involved.
Margot is the main character, from the first time she walked off the boat she had a suspicion that something was wrong. The head chef was infatuated with her; he wanted Margot to be a “giver,” or a service worker. Chef Slowik was obsessed with her because she was originally not supposed to be there—Tyler was going to bring his girlfriend but she had broken up with him. Chef’s plan was only for the people he had invited. The restaurant did not have a one person table so Tyler had to bring someone else. I think that chef Slowik had pity for her once he found out.
Each person was invited for a specific reason, for example, The Movie Star played the main part in a movie. Chef Slowick had watched this movie on his one day off and he thought it was horrible and his face haunted him. The Movie Stars girlfriend Felicity was very rich no student loans. Chef only cared for people who tasted the food not ate it, so he thought that rich people didn’t care for the art. I think that this part was smartly planned, I liked that everyone was there for a reason.
Margot got up and said to chef Slowik that she was still hungry, for a burger, which is odd because all of the courses of the night were gourmet plates of food. She asked for a go box and he let her leave on the one boat that was available, while everyone lit on fire while dressed as s’mores. This part was very odd to me because they were dressed as s’mores. I liked the ending that pretty much everyone died, but I really wish it was more dramatic and scary.
“The Menu” definitely is one of the more odd movies, but it is definitely worth watching. You get the drama, some jumps, scares and a little sadness even. For me this wouldn’t be a movie I would go for but I’m very happy I did.
