at the presentation of each course , provides comedic relief with a gentle mocking of the highly stylized lexicon of contemporary foodie programming .
The Menu begins on a boat dock with Tyler , an anxious character with an obvious obsession for haute cuisine , admonishing his date , Margot ( Anya Taylor-Joy of Queen ’ s Gambit fame ), for smoking a cigarette , sure to dull her taste buds for the culinary ecstasy forthcoming across the bay on Hawthorn Island . As other guests arrive , it is clear that Hawthorn caters to an exclusive set , notably with the arrival of the esteemed food critic Lillian Bloom . Once across the bay , the guests are greeted by Elsa , an eerily austere and razor-tongued head of house , who leads a tour of the culinary compound . The intensity of the bucolic island institution is readily apparent as the staff barracks are shown to the guests , revealing that they live full time on the island . Elsa dismisses any notion in their living arrangement of esprit de corps , rigidly asserting the logistics of producing a $ 1,250 a head dinner service . She exclaims , with no air of irony about the staff ’ s early rising time , “ We harvest . We ferment . We slaughter . We marinate . We liquefy . We spherify . We gel … We gel !” The tour ends , past the smokehouse and the fire pit “ in the Norwegian tradition ,” at the main restaurant where the stage is set . The guests are seated in a sterile and strikingly modern room overlooking an open kitchen with an army of cooks fastidiously at work .
As the first course is presented with the sharp clap of Chef Slownik ’ s hands , Lillian Bloom presents a familiar character reference , the pretentious and demanding food critic . Ms . Bloom nobly declares in a whisper to Ted , her magazine editor and dinner companion , “ The curtain rises ,” foreshadowing both the theater to come and that which she has come to expect and demand as a steward of epicurean culture . She savors the first bites of the seafood first course , tweezed into visual perfection , and waxes poetic , searching for the words to describe the experience of the dish that will undoubtedly appear later in her writing . With feigned pomp she arrives at the comically bland . “ We … are eating the sea .” Her words draw a snicker from Ted , but her willing acceptance of her own failure to mine her own lexis , makes clear that she holds her power to make or break a restaurant in higher regard than her own standards .
Courier-Journal critic Ms . McMahan admitted she cringed watching Lillian Bloom in the film . Ms . McMahan notes , “ I had to question the role of people like myself in this system that can drive industry workers to grueling hours and untenable work lives .” Further , she admits , the restaurant , distorted to a place of ostentatious culinary entertainment rather than practical nourishment , has , by many accounts , reached beyond any sustainable endpoints .
The other diners , and their obnoxious qualities , are gradually revealed along with dinner courses . The slithering and conniving “ tech bros ” toasting to “ work and money ,” the wealthy but disinterested couple , and the desperately washed-up movie star and his pilfering assistant all populate the dining room ’ s spare , black tables . Tyler ’ s plus one , Margot , emerges as the main character , bereft of the obnoxious facets of the other guests , though imperfect in her foul mouth and raw manners . Yet Margot is revealed to be someone other than who she presents : Chef Slownik insists he can see through Margot ’ s gossamer veneer , suggesting that she “ belongs in the kitchen with her own breed … the shit-shovelers .” He demands Margot choose how she will experience his menu , in a moment away from the other diners , as a binary choice , being either a “ giver ” or a “ taker ,” implying she , too , must feel a certain way in her true profession . Regardless , she is juxtaposed with the obnoxious and privileged , in their coveted seats on Hawthorn , straddling the line between the guests and workers , a bridge between their stories .
The narrative of the menu on Hawthorne Island is well portioned with foreboding suspense , an element of any horror film worth its salt . There is a gathering intensity and a disparaging irony with each course presentation , best foreshadowed by the frigid Elsa . She coldly whispers the film ’ s most memorable line while reseating and placing a napkin back in the lap of an agitated tech bro . “ You will eat less than you desire and more than you deserve .” As the evening progresses the well-heeled guests are pulled from the background , along with their affronts to Chef Slowik and the service industry as a whole , to the foreground . Chef Slowik , and his army of cooks , bring the menu , the theater behind Ms . Bloom ’ s imagined curtain , into focus as a cohesive narrative . The audience realizes that narrative is really Chef Slowik ’ s concluding menu , his omega , that is darkly satirizing his own life and that of the beleaguered industry worker .
Chef Slowik , late in the meal and having revealed the diabolical climax of his menu , admonishes his guests . “ You represent the ruin of my art and my life .” He laments being “ fooled into trying to please ” people who can never be pleased . Who of the “ givers ,” the employed and the providers among us , has not faced the dismantling of joy in the chosen profession by the “ takers ,” those who demand for their own ends ? The audience may live vicariously , even if for only a flashing and forbidden moment , through Julian Slowik ’ s menu culminating in his final dessert course , a take on the s ’ more . His beleaguered guests , exhausted in the tensity of the evening and the burdens of their own revealed misdeeds , appear ready , almost willing , to submit to Chef Slowik ’ s imminent will . Julian Slowik , exhausted as a “ giver ” after a lifetime of wondering if providing all the proverbial rope in the world will really result in a figurative hanging , leans into the horror element of horror satire and answers the question for himself .
More than a gripping tale with rich subtext , The Menu is also visually stunning , shot on location on a barrier island near Savannah , Georgia . The visuals provide not just an appealing background for the script but also some strong elements of symbolism . One of the most powerful pieces of visual symbolism in the film is a despondent and disheveled elderly woman seated at the edge of the dining room silently drinking white wine ( while the guests are presented with heirloom reds by a sommelier ) with each course . While easily noted when the diners are initially seated , she has
( continued on page 16 )
June 2023 15