Words Per Mile

We went to see Mark Mylod’s The Menu (staring Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Nicholas Hoult) last week based on my vague positive recollection of the trailer and the fact that we had two ticket credits to use through Cinemark Movie Club. 

Let me tell you: this might be one of my favorite movies of 2022. I’d have to sit down and look at the list of what else I’ve seen this year, but The Menu serves an excellent combination of dread, comedy, surprise, and schadenfreude. The whole cast plays everything so well and so sincerely, down to small expressions and gestures, with the highlights being the way Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy play off each other, and Hong Chau’s entire performance.

I’m not a foodie or a wine person myself, but I got enough of the movie’s humor to enjoy the entire hour and 47 minutes. And I was glad that the film didn’t go with the obvious twist. 

Part of the final resolution was a little cheesy (pun intended), and at one point Ralph Fiennes’ characters gets cut off mid-threat, and even though the conditions of his threat are fulfilled we never see the alluded follow-up. But these are minor issues in a film that kept up an exciting, escalating pace and had our Monday night theater laughing the whole time. Would I see The Menu again?

Yes, Chef.