Anya Taylor-Joy
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Ralph Feinnes
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Nicholas Hoult
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Janet McTeer
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Judith Light
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John Leguizamo
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Aimee Carrero
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Paul Adelstein
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Hong Chau
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Christina Brucato
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Arturo Castro
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Rachel Trautmann
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Anya Taylor-Joy | Ralph Feinnes | Nicholas Hoult | |||
Janet McTeer | Judith Light | John Leguizamo | |||
Aimee Carrero | Paul Adelstein | Hong Chau | |||
Christina Brucato | Arturo Castro | Rachel Trautmann |
Anya Taylor-Joy | Ralph Feinnes | ||
Nicholas Hoult | Janet McTeer | ||
Judith Light | John Leguizamo | ||
Aimee Carrero | Paul Adelstein | ||
Hong Chau | Christina Brucato | ||
Arturo Castro | Rachel Trautmann |
A 12-acre self-contained farm-to-table paradise, Hawthorne Island represents the pinnacle of exclusive eats, serving celebrities and billionaires who think nothing of forking out $1,250 a head. The outliers in this evening’s clientele are Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), a devout foodie pilgrim, and his date, Margot (Taylor-Joy), a layperson along for the free meal. Once seated before Hawthorne’s open-concept kitchen, they are welcomed by Chef (Fiennes), who precedes each course with a monologue. He instructs them to taste, rather than eat. And absolutely no photos: the true beauty of food, Chef explains, lies in its ephemerality.
Among the guests are a washed-up movie star (John Leguizamo), a tastemaking restaurant critic (Janet McTeer), and a trio of tech bros. What they all have in common are meaty secrets that each new dish hints at exposing. Only Margot seems immune to Hawthorne’s menu of manipulation – and only she seems able to spot the vulnerability concealed beneath Chef’s cultivated air of superiority.
Written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, The Menu is loaded with wild twists enhanced by Mylod’s playfully ominous camerawork and inventive intertitles. As this foodie fantasy gradually transforms into a culinary nightmare, we come to savour the film’s brilliantly sinister pairings of status and guilt.