The Menu (2022) Dir: Mark Mylod
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Directed by Mark Mylod, this 2022 horror comedy is one that, while I had heard a lot of good things about it, I didn't actually know anything about it. With that said, I was thrilled to finally watch it.
The film had a tension to it that permeated through the screen and formed a sense of pressure surrounding the events of the film that left me, at times, a bag of nerves. The film had a myriad of twists, turns and truly shocking moments which caught me extremely off-guard.
The surreal nature of the film had me thoroughly taken, bewildered and quite frankly fascinated. The horror aspect of the story really sneaks up on you, before grabbing you in a full choke hold for the film's remaining runtime.
The story develops and evolves much like the many courses of the menu. The story curates a sense of irony, thrill and even terror that could easily have been lost in the comedic elements of the film, but instead thrived them quite brilliantly.
Anya Taylor-Joy was superb as the film's lead. She excelled in her ability to provide a believable character that the audience wants to root for, and she was very clever I the use of her facial expressions, which were only emphasised by the quality of her delivery.
Ralph Fiennes was quite frankly terrifying, both in his on-screen characteristics and his sheer force of acting prowess. He was intimidating, enthralling and intricately delicate on manner, which allowed him to create an aura of immense fear and tension through even the slightest change in expression or movement.
Nicholas Hoult was so good at being quite frankly psychotic, that I was ultimately incredibly impressed by him. He was irritating, egotistical and grating, exactly as he was supposed to be, and I loved it.
Hong Chau had far more presence than I had initially assumed, but I was very glad to see what she did with her time on-screen. She was sinister and composed in a way that complimented the film's tones very smartly.
The standouts from the supporting cast, to me, were the duos of Janet McTeer and Paul Adelstein, whose chemistry was understated but enjoyable, and John Leguizamo and Aimee Carrero, who both had some quietly very strong moments, particularly in the second half of the film.
Other notable names who contributed to the cast well include Reed Birney, Judith Light, Rebecca Koon, Rob Yang and Christina Brucato.
Overall, this was an extremely stressful watch, but, in some masochistic way, I enjoyed that about it. If I had to describe this film, I'd say it was like Midsommar with food.
It is a film that stays with you far more than you would ever have expected it to, both with its succinct irony and understated horror.
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