Film Review : The Menu ( HBO )
by JOHN DAVID KOLTER , MD
American diners are conditioned to a dynamic gastronomic scene , after years of restaurant hype and a proliferation of culinary programming . Yet , having been excluded during the COVID-19 years , diners , likely out of practice for fine dining , are now met with the barrier of eye-popping inflationary tabs . Dana McMahan , of The Courier Journal laments , in her March 2023 column The Dish , the persistent cultural foothold of foodie culture and food journalism that requires ever-new content , with the chefs to continually produce it .
While the culture may have been sustained by Instagramming home bakers and interminable food programming during COVID , Ms . McMahan suggests that we have picked up in the restaurant scene where we left off with “ no shortage of chefs willing and able to serve up the incredible meals , and no shortage of writers waiting to gush to readers .” HBO ’ s recent horror satire film , The Menu , starring Ralph Fiennes as renowned chef Julian Slowik , embodies the lament of Ms . McMahan with “ dark satire that illuminates the fault lines in the world of fine dining .” The Menu chronicles the evening of wealthy , but distasteful , diners on the bucolic , fictional Hawthorn Island compound of Chef Slowik , while peering into the grueling work lives of the army of staff . The Menu , on the surface , skewers foodie culture , and the infrastructure to maintain it , as well as the folly of “ food as entertainment ” that has become an American cultural mainstay . More culturally apropos , though , the film cuts a deeper subtext on classism and an industry reliant on those with expendable income and a desire to be seen .
The Menu is an unmistakable specimen of the horror satire genre , which includes a number of notable and lauded films in Scream ( 1996 ), American Psycho ( 2000 ) and Get Out ( 2017 ). The genre is niche enough that each horror satire film feels like a treasure , one where the audience is treated to both the rarity of the film but also the search and discovery of a deeper purport . Admittedly , though , for some in an audience weaned on the Ted Lasso escapism of the COVID years , the genre can present a high bar of entry . The horror element drags an audience to outlandish and uncomfortable corners of the mind that can , however , enhance layered satire and comedic elements to illuminate larger societal and cultural issues . The Menu does not stray from the ethos of the genre . It leads the audience to discovery of the cohesion and darker theater of the menu on Hawthorn Island , while , with the gong of a Tibetan singing bowl
14 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE