Horror movies are the genre that are the most experimental or the most cliché depending on the director steering the helm. Go too far in either direction and you lose a wide array of people who reduce the movie to trash. As such, the war for new and tamed continues in hopes of finding the balanced work from it. Tonight, another movie tries to make its mark on the world in hopes that it will be incredible and really deliver on the “masterpiece” promised by the trailers. Will it work? Robbie K thanking you for your time and reading as I review:
Movie: The Menu (2022)
- Director
- Writers
LIKES:
The Atmosphere: The truly elevated piece of the film is the atmosphere that has been “cooked” up in this movie. The Menu is all about establishing an atmosphere to match both the horror and the character qualities that take the screen. It’s refined, a truly elitist taste, that feels satire against the cooking shows that plague television these days. All the guests, well almost all of them, having this same culture that truly mixes well with the themes of the movie. Between the looks, the filming, and the touch of music with more silence interluding, the uncomfortable disturbance of the movie is really well set in this film, and lingers quite well.
The Message: A movie that knows how to use a message as the storytelling prowess of the movie is a truly artistic skill to have. Mylod’s direction with the Reiss and Tracy story is fantastic when it comes to being the representation of one part of the world’s culture. It’s brilliant in seeing the design of the story, driving the entire moment that really puts the cherry on top to this dessert of despair. I myself also liked the gradual revelation, seeing the story opening up and adding more levels of depth to an otherwise limited setting that seldom moves from the dining hall. And, to my surprise, the symbolism in it is well crafted, but not cocky or in your face like others do the level of being pretentious or hard to follow. It all works very well and balances common and more avid movie going.
The Storytelling To An Extent: Again, it is smart storytelling, with layers added in a pace that works for the theme of this movie. The Menu contains items that are one part character focus, one part political commentary, and one part horror that somehow align into a meal that is very engaging to watch. It’s not quite as one-dimensional or simplified like many of these movies do, again giving you an elevated character that smashes the ceiling in terms of a good character for us to work against. Even the “heroes” of the story have their own layers, escaping the usual fodder of the horror genre who are idiots to an extent. As for the horror component, it’s there, but not to the way you might expect or think. This movie is much more realistic than any paranormal dream slayer or undead machete slasher could hope to achieve. It’s that realism that is the terror, but yet, there is more than the simple demented realm that we see in these roles. All of that leads to a very artistic tale that is the meat of this cinema dish and that’s what you should go in with if you dare.
The Pace Is Okay At Times: This film has enough movement and limited time to not get lost in on itself for most of the runtime. Because of the allure and the suspense of figuring out what is going on, you have that line that pulls you along to keep you guessing what will happen. As more characters get their hand in the pot, you again get some wow factor to help shock you and turn the heat up in this message heavy movie. With all this, it plays nicely with the rest of the themes mentioned, allowing for a pace that is not completely a snooze fest in the grand scheme of movies, unlike Tar, for me.
It’s Tamer Than You think: Those expecting the shock factor to be gory, disturbing, dissection of the human body can breathe a sigh of relief. While The Menu is certainly not something for weaker constitutions, it also isn’t the most vivid imagery of people dying in the way the trailers paint. I may be revealing a little by saying the gross factor is minimized, but I hope it will allow others to give this movie a try. Sure, there are moments that are going to be difficult to watch, but again the writers and director have marinated the movie with a more refined filter than others might have wielded. And that was one part very welcoming for me.
The Acting: By far is the acting of the movie is what was my favorite aspect of the film. Why? Because all of this writing and atmosphere is brought together with the powerful performances of the cast presented today. I’ll say again that every performance is master chef level in the mannerisms and meticulous nature these rolls brought, and the chemistry works well to bring light to the movie. I can also say the limited roles for such an ensemble were maximized, but I’ll only be focusing on the top three again. Hoult is my least favorite of the three, only because of how top notch the other two were. Hoult plays the part well, capturing so much enthusiasm, slyness, and energy that his role required, again mirroring the language one finds on several cooking shows. And as his character has more time to simmer, we find new levels that come from his acting as the night requires him to do. Taylor-Joy is my next to talk about, this young woman is extraordinary in what she is able to do with her acting abilities. Though she may feel a bit one note at times and in the same role, she adds these slight changes that give them light. For The Menu, she once again does this super well, and gives her rogue character more personality, charm, and a bit more lighter qualities than what she often drinks in with her work. The way she plays and changes her approach in the film is remarkable though, and like her character, adapts to the need of the movie. And she does it so naturally that there is very little acting seen in the movie to be cheesy. But it’s Fiennes who wins the best for me. Voldemort’s actor is so much more than yelling out spells and whispering. In this film, he does so much for an antagonist, actually making me like him compared to other villains, because of the complexity he brings to the character. Face changes, posture, delivery of lines, and his looks are a powerful dish that really surprised me for the type of character the head chef became. One that went beyond the trailer portrayal and gave me something much deeper and elegant than I expected, with the acting to really sell the part.
DISLIKES:
The Pacing: I know, it sounds controversial right? Trust me, it was when writing this review. The Menu is indeed conscience of the time it has, utilizing it well, but, depending on what you are walking into, you might find yourself bored by this film. The Menu is not going to be the typical slasher fighting film, and it isn’t the supernatural themed telling you might hope it would be. If you want the usual tropes and on the edge of your seats thrills, this movie will bore you absolutely. However, past that, there are times where it gets a little stuck up on itself and becomes a little boring at the same time. Without the rest of the crew getting more in depth, their asides are trying to be more comedic than meaningful and it bloats the movie a bit. I don’t think it is the worst change of pace, but just beware and curb your expectations.
Semi Dark: It’s a horror movie, so you might expect this angle to of course, and perhaps even more from the theme of this movie. And you would be right! However, there are elements that are a tad darker and more dismal than the usual genre trope. That realistic mood is indeed part of the terror but it’s also a bit disturbing and depressing at the same time and may affect some people to the wrong extent. Those kinds of things are good for the message, but for entertaining, I might have steered aways from the whole madness with it. As such, I just caution those to be careful if choosing to tackle this beast.
Character Stories Are Trivial: Most characters in this movie are the message representers and the big political statements of the film. Certainly there are stories to be held, but they pale in comparison to the amazing stuff they accomplished with the other characters. Two particular characters get the story element, but the others are again just representations of the culture they wanted to dramatize. It makes for rather forgettable crew, perhaps the point, but The Menu held so much promise for deeper characters had they followed a more traditional formula. Again I don’t hate it, but it’s a bit of a letdown in comparison to the magic they crafted.
The Comedy Is Inconsistent: The Menu is labeled as a comedy and in truth it is to an extent of more elevated level of jokes to fit with the dark tone of the movie. At times, it is satisfying, the taste of the sarcasm or the attitude fantastic in what they tried to do. However, at the same time the comedy sometimes tries to be a bit too elevated for me, that it is a bit cheesy for me. When you get to the poetic nature and the attempts at sarcasm get a little over the top and lose the finesse. Adding more of that symbolic irony in helps to lighten the darker tone, but I felt also took away from the horror edge they were going for. I’m sure this more sensitive than other audience members, but it is a minor dislike for me given again the expectations I went in for the movie.
Not As Shock Factor As You think: This is both good and bad as mentioned above. Good in that we weren’t grossed out by the potential content, bad because we are missing the edge that came with the film. The Menu tries to keep some level of thrill in it and it succeeds with again 1 character. However, the nature of the film sort of buffers the thrill factor a bit more and the comedy only further dilutes what could have been a bit more hectic adventure. There are inconsistent attempts to try and change the menu or give more splendor, but overall, it’s just a bit limited for me and again takes that entertaining thrill that comes with this genre a tad too much for me.
The VERDICT:
All this leads to the following for this movie. The Menu is indeed impressive in terms of the refinement to the Horror genre and how elegant the film is. You can savor the realism and the atmosphere of the movie, and enjoy the terror from that angle alongside the great character/message themed story. It’s a very smart film, that plays well with the topics it set out to discuss, while also unleashing a great quality of acting that ties everything together int his movie. Originality is definitely heavy in this film and that artistic approach is a nice break from the usual elements that these films choose to haunt. And yet, that elevation does diminish a few other returns in the movie depending on what you expected from the trailers. Several of the characters are lame fodder, and the pacing suffers a bit because it lacks the cut of the Horror knife. There were also some inconsistencies in trying to expand the movie that sometimes did work, and other times were a miss for me in what it took away in that attempt. Overall though, the movie is an experience that is garnished with quality, but may not be the shocking event you expected it to be. With all this in mind, The Menu gets:
Horror/Comedy: 7.5-8.0
Movie Overall: 7.0
robbiesmoviereviews 