Upcoming Film The Menu Explores The Horrors Of Upscale Restaurants
We're living in an age where you can't sit at a nice restaurant without seeing half the diners taking photos of their food. At a time in history where most people are doing it for the "gram," you have to wonder what fine dining chefs that spend hours curating a perfect menu must think of this trend. Are people really visiting restaurants just for photo ops or prestige? Or do they actually want to experience the food as it's intended? Would a chef go so far as to torment a guest that wasn't taking their food seriously?
The new film, "The Menu," posits this idea. The movie, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, and Ralph Fiennes as the possibly evil chef Slowik, comes out this November (via Distractify). The film's trailer dropped on August 10 and the movie appears to have a "The Most Dangerous Game" vibe with a foodie twist.
The most dangerous meal?
Twelve diners travel to an exclusive restaurant called Hawthorne on a remote island, where they're paying $12,500 for dinner (via Bon Appétit). Scenes from the trailer depict Slowik and his staff, not just as part of a restaurant, but potentially also part of a murderous cult. While it appears some of the diners think it's theatre — Fiennes says wickedly during the trailer, "It's all part of the menu." Others are sure they're going to die, with some depicted as trying desperately to leave.
The scene seems to quickly devolve into chaos, which looks like audiences are sure to be in for a wild ride. With shows like "The Bear" showing the emotional hell of running a kitchen, "The Menu" seems to take the stress of running a restaurant to a whole new level. It's hard to imagine that fancy restaurant staff don't often roll their eyes at the mega rich, so we'll have to wait and see if this movie is cathartic for servers, chefs, and bartenders.