TIFF 2022: The Menu Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

There is arguably no more delicious film this year than The Menu. Offering beautiful plates of food and some biting social commentary, the film is a great surprise. A beautiful satirical dark comedy masquerading as a thriller, it delivers plenty of twists and turns over the course of a ride with imagery that will be hard to forget for most audiences. A showcase of original writing and performances, the film will leave characters and audiences on the edge of their seats and not just for eating. The commentary may bite off more than it could chew but it is nonetheless a blast. Beautiful cinematography along with some crisp production design and a chilling score all work together to create an uncomfortable atmosphere that will leave audiences on edge while fantastic performances from Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy and a stellar supporting cast are ultimately what ties all the insanity together. Hilarious dialog as the cast, but especially Fiennes and Taylo-Joy, play off of each other make it an absolute blast.

The Menu follows a young couple named Tyler (Hoult) and Margot (Taylor-Joy) who are part of a group of affluent guests who have travelled to a remote island for the chance to eat at an exclusive restaurant run by Chef Slowik (Fiennes) who has prepared them a special meal full of surprises. Accompanying her rich foodie boyfriend who seemed to take the experience a lot more seriously than she did to an almost comedic level, Margot was neither but was merely there to support Tyler. Essentially an outsider amongst the other guests, that perspective definitely made for a fun contrast with the other guests who also took the experience seriously though not as much as Tyler did. As far as the meal was concerned, Slowik presented a series of courses that told a story that also took shots at the other guests. It was all clearly part of his master plan for the evening as he and his staff ensured that it gets realized. As things got increasingly crazy, it seemed like it was part of the show until it wasn’t. From there, it was all about survival though whether or not the other guests had the wherewithal to realize what was going on and do something about it wasn’t necessarily a sure thing. A lot of the tension was simply watching that play out on screen and for that, the film was a blast.

The best part of The Menu was the aforementioned fantastic performances from Fiennes and Taylor-Joy. Their chemistry anchors the film and helped create a powerful back and forth dynamic as part of opposite ends of the film’s commentary on class warfare as a representative of audiences and a burn out chef with a disdain of his clientele.

In the end, The Menu is one of the sharpest and coolest films of the year and a nice breath of fresh air that doesn’t wear out its welcome.

*still courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.