Anya Taylor Joy in The Menu. Photo by Eric Zachanowich. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All rights reserved.
There is no project where Anya Taylor Joy Don’t brag, but if there’s one genre that fits like a glove, it’s terror. After “The Witch”, “Multiple”, “Marrowbone” or “Last Night in Soho”, the actress once again impresses with her cinematic charisma The menua story that once again positions her as the queen of horror a macabre critique of the world of haute cuisine full of spicy ingredients. But apart from how much she looks at the screen and the bizarre vision of the culinary, it is one Band full of layers and surprises, whose address goes much further than expected.
His proposal puts us in the shoes of a group of guests who, after paying a hefty price tag of over $1,000, dare an island dining experience in the hands of an acclaimed chef. But the menu they have to try won’t exactly be a rich and succulent meal, as they will face a turn of events that confronts her with life and death.
Still from ‘The Menu’. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All rights reserved.
As I said before, the story focuses on questioning the value of haute cuisine, where the minimalist and conceptual triumph over the rich and delicious. An elitist idea, then, which this horror thriller takes to extremes to show us its absurd side in a spectacle of blood and script distortions. But amidst this macabre idea also arises a sharp analysis of all the hypocrisy that plagues societyespecially in those high spheres which, far from enjoying the pleasures of life, lose themselves in the superficiality of appearances and economic power without attaining happiness.
This is achieved through a cast of characters to fit roles of all kinds, from the chef obsessed with ever more extreme professional achievements, brought to life by an intense Ralph Fiennes, to the counterpoint of the poor young woman who eats up the screen thanks to the overwhelming character of Anya Taylor-Joy. And in between, wealthy money launderers, seemingly idyllic couples with less than ideal lives, or not-so-outstanding movie stars as one might expect. A whole feast to unwind the elitist life, which together with the black comedy and the macabre touch leaves a unique film of its kind with a lot to tell.
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Also, I can feel it his culinary discourse also applies to all artistic disciplinesto this obsession of artists to fill a sense of perfection that can never be satisfied, to the question of valuing simplicity, to the absurdity that specialized critics indulge in the game of attributing value to the mundane or worrying ordinary people fall end up falling for the deception, as also demonstrate the second-classness of a gastronomic critic with exaggerated claims of grandeur or the chefs who accompany the chef.
However, once the show starts, I think it focuses so much on the show, the surprises, and emphasizing the eccentricity of the proposal When the time comes to shine their characters, they don’t stand out as much as they could. There are very tricky situations for each of them, following (in their own way) the structure of a horror slasher while delivering the critical message to their profiles, but the problem is that the fun of the culinary show is so that these are you don’t care about everything you need. It also doesn’t help that Taylor-Joy and Fiennes get all the attention for lack of strong star secondaries. As such, I believe many of the levels that the menu has are more hidden than they should be.
But it’s not an inconvenience preventing you from enjoying the film in all its glory, just a detail that would elevate it to a higher level as entertaining, macabre entertainment with an extremely black touch. And that’s it in the end His greatest asset is a crazy and unpredictable development that keeps you glued to the seat, that vibrates with each of its spins, and that encourages you to engage with each of the many ideas parading on the screen.