The Menu (2022 film)

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The Menu is a 2022 horror-comedy film starring Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, and John Leguizamo. It premiered in theaters before streaming on Disney+ and HBOMax.

Chef Julian Slowik runs an exclusive island restaurant called Harcourt, with couples meals priced at 1250 per person. He also curates his guests, because they contribute to the theme of the evening meal. Part of the fun is that the dinner guests need to guess the meals.

Foodie and chef fanboy Tyler brings his girlfriend Margot to one of these dates. She's not at interested in the food, or in haute cuisine. Margot also attracts the attention of the staff, as she's not on the guest list. Tyler explains that his previous girlfriend and planned date for the evening broke up with him, and that Margot is his rebound. Margot is uncomfortable on learning she was a last-minute replacement, as Chef Slowik keeps giving her piercing looks and asks her who she is.

It seems to just be a quirky restaurant, as the chefs bring out appetizers and courses inspired by the island's local fare, food gardens, and terrain. Then Julian reveals this meal will be his last one: at the end of the night, everyone will die after dessert. That includes him, the chefs, and the dining patrons. The guests realize he's not joking, and have to figure out how to survive the evening.

Tropes used in The Menu (2022 film) include:

Actually Pretty Funny: George bursts out laughing when his Memory Tortillas reprint the poster of his movie Calling Dr. Sunshine. He recalls it as a bad movie, but a fun shoot, and he has fond memories of it. He's shocked and confused later when learning that Julian seeing the movie on a precious day off targeted him for death, pointing out it was just a part for him, and he didn't write the script or direct it.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg
- When the tech bros realize that Julian means to execute their boss Doug Verrick via slow drowning, they shout for him to stop, saying they'll pay him to save Doug. When Julian refuses to bite, they try running outside to rescue their boss. They fail, and are Forced to Watch Doug being lowered into the current, until the water stops thrashing.
- Richard and Anne each beg Julian to let each other go, with Anne saying that Richard needs a hospital for his severed finger and Richard saying don't hurt his wife.
- George, after learning that Julian wants to kill him for starring in a bad movie, begs for him to spare Felicity, saying that she doesn't deserve death.
Bittersweet Ending: Despite Margot's best efforts, she only manages to save herself and is Forced to Watch Julian and his chefs burn the guests alive from the safety of a Coast Guard boat. Yet the fact that she is alive is a victory, and asking for a cheeseburger from Julian meant she gave him one final moment of happiness. Plus, the fact that she has a copy of the titular Menu, including the final course, will provide evidence that she was an innocent party in this venture.
Casual Danger Dialog: Before the men's course starts, Ted tries reassuring Lillian things will be okay. She whispers, "No, we're going to die" and he agrees matter-of-factly.
Cool Motive, Still A Crime: Several people call out Julian for this after he announces his true intentions:
- When Julian gives Lillian a The Reason You Suck Speech for how her work has destroyed restaurants, Ted for one of the few times in the movie speaks up, even when Julian starts interrupting him. He points out that Julian benefited from Lillian's endorsement of him, and he is the one who chose to to an interview with her. Julian acknowledges the point, that he and Lillian "fed" each other's egos.
- He prepares to forcibly drown Doug Verrick so as to be free of his owner. Bryce, watching helplessly, shouts that Doug kept Julian open through COVID when other restuarants failed.
- Margot, of course, gets the top one. She mentions in the climax how Julian talks about how the joy has gone out of cooking and feeding customers, but he has provided no joy through his food at all his evening.
Crazy Prepared: Julian accounted for the guests not panicking on learning they were in danger. He makes sure that the glass windows are bulletproof and shatterproof, so that breaking them is not an option to escape. The chefs hunt down the men in number during the hunting course, taking down one techbro that successfully found a rowboat and was going to make it off the island. And he contrived a fake Coast Guard boat, with a disguised chef on it, in the case that anyone found his radio and tried to make a Distress Call and try to get help.
Even Evil Has Standards: A recurring theme is that various "bad" characters have moments of standards or compassion:
- Everyone in the room, sans Tyler, freaks out when chef Jeremy shoots himself shortly before his dish "The Mess" is presented. Lillian tries to say it's just theater, but she's clearly in denial. Richard immediately says that he's not comfortable with this course and asks to leave with his wife Anne.
- The techbros all protest on learning that Julian means to slowly execute their boss Doug Verrick in front of them. One even tries to mount a rescue, only for the chefs to trip him.
- Julian goes off-script when he figures out that Margot is an escort, not the guest he intended to kill with Tyler. What's more, Tyler knew all along that the meal would end in everyone dead, and he hired Margot because Harcourt only serves two-people guests. Julian can't believe that someone would be that callous, exposing Tyler in front of Margot and making him cook a dish.
Everyone Has Standards:
- On realizing that Julian means to kill everyone, George begs him to let his assistant Felicity go. He points out that by logic she's a worker like Margot, and she doesn't deserve to die. Julian deems she does after learning she has a wealthy family and didn't need student loans to attend Brown University.
- Margot and Julian don't seem to see eye-to-eye, but she gets angry on his behalf when Julian serves him tacos printed with him photographing the meals. When given the opportunity, Margot tries to save everyone. While she manages to save herself at the end of the movie, she hesitates for a second before Anne gestures at her to go before Julian possibly changes his mind and decides to kill her anyway.
- Lillian looks shocked when Anne figures out that her husband used Margot for sex fantasies. She silently drinks wine with an awkward expression.
Genre Savvy: Being an actor, George is quick on the uptake when Jeremy shoots himself on Julian's orders. He realizes they're in a horror movie, and whispers with the techbros that they need to bust out, maybe by using stunts he tried in previous roles. And to be fair, he puts in a good effort: cheering on Soren when the latter bangs a chair against the glass windows, as well as promising Felicity that he'll get help during the 45-second headstart that the men have to flee the island. On realizing the situation is futile, he tries to reason with Julian to spare Felicity, and writes a message for help from what he thinks is the Coast Guard. As the dessert course is brought out with marshmallow vests, graham cracker powder and chocolate hats, George whispers to Felicity that he knew they were all going to die.
Jaded Washout:
- George Diaz is a fairly wealthy and formerly-famous actor, but his glory days are gone. He's in denial of it, until learning why he was invited to this exclusive dinner.
- It's gradually revealed that Julian is this. He did used to love cooking, before the haute-cuisine world and an unexplained tragedy stripped his idealism. Margot convinces him to spare her when she asks for a proper cheeseburger with fries, bringing back his happy memories of being a line cook, and she asks for it to go..
Loony Fan: It's revealed that most of the guy chefs are this, given their fanatical devotion to Julian, and Tyler takes it to the extreme as he came to Harcourt despite knowing that everyone at the dinner course would die. Julian calls him out for the last part, for getting Margot involved.
Morton's Fork: As Margot dryly tells Julian, whether or not she's on his side or the patrons' means that she dies anyway.
Only Sane Man: While George is arrogant and in denial of his fame, he certainly is quick on the uptake when realizing that he and Felicity are in a horror movie. He talks with the tech bros about rushing the chefs with their own knives. Later, he attempts to reason with Julian to spare Felicity.
Only Sane Woman: Poor Margot is this for most of the movie. She scoffs at the pretentiousness of the wealthy guests and is quick to realize that Julian is not normal. A Deleted Scene had her call out Julian for choosing to kill people rather than go back to the taco truck where Lillian found him, or feed the hungry with his talents.
Parting Words Regret:
- Invoked by George and Felicity; when they start to realize that George can't save himself or her, they start confessing their awful deeds towards each other so they have no regrets when they die. George forgives Felicity for stealing from him, admitting that he probably deserved it, and she does it in turn on learning that he deliberately wrote her a bad reference so that she would never leave him. It probably helped that when George realized he couldn't reason with Julian about saving himself, he begged for Felicity's life.
- Played straight between Soren and his wife. He reveals that before coming to the restaurant, he got in a fight with her because he was cheating on her with her coworker. He dies at the end of the movie before he can make up for that mistake.
Pet the Dog:
- Julian implies that if the men make it off the island, he won't stop them. Ted is the last one caught, sensibly hiding in a chicken coup but he is given an amuse-bouche pasard-egg appetizer for his victory.
- Lillian, known for her Caustic Critic reputation, praises Katherine's dish. While it's implied that she's trying to butter up Katherine to get her help, she doesn't seem to be lying while savoring the food.
- The chefs make a nice birthday cake for Bryce, one of the tech bros. It's implied it was a joke courtesy of his coworkers as they said it seemed funny five hours ago to tell Julian it was his birthday, but Bryce blows out the candle and gets to eat it, though he never touches it.
- When Margot asks to take her cheeseburger to go, Julian packs it up nicely and doesn't stop her from getting on the fake Coast Guard boat.
The Reveal:
- Turns out that Julian was right that Margot was lying about who she was; as the women drink during the men's chase, she tells the others that her name is Erin and she's an escort from Massachusetts. Tyler hired her for the evening, explaining it was just a fancy dinner.
- Tyler knew all along that the guests were going to die. Julian reveals this to Margot and Tyler before the next course starts. Understandably, Margot tackles Tyler for getting her involved way beyond her pay grade.
Riddle for the Ages: Why was Ms. Westervelt marked for death by Julian? She was the one who was supposed to come in Margot's place before she broke up with Tyler. Julian doesn't elaborate, instead fixating on the fact that Margot is the substitute.
Shamed by a Mob: Happens when Julian forces Tyler to admit that he knew everyone was going to die and attended anyway, hiring Margot as his plus one. The subtitles reveal that everyone in the room gasps, and you can see a few people like Lillian, Felicity and George outright glaring at him.
Skewed Priorities: Margot gets increasingly annoyed as Tyler spends the evening eating different courses rather than freaking out about the sudden violence or the fact that they're going to die. On he knew how the evening would go, she tackles him screaming and the chefs have to pull her off Tyler.
Soft Glass: Subverted. Soren comes up with the idea to break a window with one of the years. He certainly puts in a good effort, but the glass holds. Julian prepared for this scenario and got rather durable windows. Not even kicking it a few times does anything.
Spanner in the Works: Tyler's ex, Ms. Westervelt. She was supposed to be the one at the dinner, as Margot's placecard is addressed to her. But she broke up with Tyler before the movie started, which led to Margot taking her place. Julian lampshades this, saying that he only meant to kill guilty people, not an escort that had no idea what she was entering.
Wrong Genre Savvy: Lillian, who is familiar with Julian's theatrics, assumes that Jeremy shooting himself is the "entertainment" for the evening. Tyler's nonchalant reaction -- to keep eating his food-- makes it an understandable error. She's quick to grasp the danger of the situation when Julian spells out that it's not a show.