31 Days of Halloween: The Menu

2022, Mark Mylod (Entourage) -- Disney

Why am I not surprised he directed episodes of Entourage and Succession; this was most definitely an exploration of wealth and privilege. And assholes.

So, its inevitable every year that we watch at least one movie that gets the label of "horror" by its respective service and/or end up on a list of "best horror", but I would personally label more "thriller" than anything. I came into this movie expecting more of a horror theme; I honestly thought there was going to be a significant element of cannibalism to the movie, as in "eat the rich"; I guess I just convinced myself that is what the movie was about.

Last little preamble bit; yes, this was one of the movies on my "finally got around to" list given its foodie nature.

A bunch of rich fucks are heading to an exclusive island restaurant, essentially in the harbour of some nameless coastal city. Our point of view characters are pretentious foodie Tyler Ledford (Nicholas Hoult, Superman) and his date Margo (Anya Taylor-Joy, The Gorge); she is our primary connection to reality, but the two seem to somewhat appreciate each other. The rest include a movie star, a renowned restaurant critic, an old money couple, and some hedge fund bros. From the moment they arrive on the island and meet Elsa (Hong Chau, The Whale), their guide to this experience, things feel extreme and off. The resto is Hawthorn and the famed chef is Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes, 28 Years Later). Everything is told to us as if we, yes we the viewer, should know who this man is and be in awe of what is happening. Which is typical upscale eating bullshit.

Of note, I have never eaten food at this level. Some of my friends would consider me a foodie because I try so many things. I am not. I just enjoy eating, and because I have a diminished sense of smell, I usually enjoy strong flavours, varied flavours. But yes, I do enjoy the idea of haute cuisine, food prepared as much for technique & presentation as it is for taste & substance, but could never really subscribe to it, even if I could afford it. I want to relish food, eat food and yes, I prefer the restaurant at the beginning of The Bear than what it becomes.

But, wow, is this story told with precision and menace! All the expected details are there, but amped up a bit. The pretentious menu, the cult like behaviour of the staff of the resto, the yells of "Yes Chef!!", the constant stream of irritants as we get to know the guests, the control with which Slowik demands over how the guests behave. We are learning, and yeah, it doesn't take long, to not life these diners, nor are we expected to like the staff nor Slowik. Margo is abrasive but, we easily warm to her because she challenges everything ! 

It doesn't take long for Slowik to reveal his End Goal, in that everyone here will die. Everyone. Everyone seems terrified and angry, except for Ledford. He, now matter how horrible Slowik gets, seems thrilled by it all. More than a little unhinged. Unfortunately there is no eating of the guests, just some light abuse, for the goal of this eating adventure is to just fucking kill everyone. Boo. Still, the movie is incredibly well done, and I really enjoyed myself but I wish there had been some real terror in the situation instead, "Weeee, yeah boyz, let's see everyone die." 

But not Margo, because Margo likes fucking cheeseburgers.