The story of this film is quite intriguing, with twelve elites travelling to an island under the premise of an exclusive, eye (and mouth) -wateringly expensive gastronomic experience. But things quickly take a turn when the chefs are secretly evil, each guest's secrets get spilled, and the night gets increasingly violent. Tyler, played by Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies, Skins, X-Men: First Class), remarks that there is "an overarching theme" to Chef Slowik's (Ralph Fiennes) menu and that the dinner is actually a guessing game. The rest of the trailer consists of snapshots of running, stabbing, and chair-throwing, interspersed with clips of comedy.
Speaking of comedy, as soon as 'you have to try the mouthfeel of the mignonette' came out of Hoult's mouth(feel), my anticipation of this movie shot up. Despite dating a horror fan, I have never really been one myself. I do decently at psychological thrillers, but straight-up slashy terror just simply isn't for me. But the brand of comedy the trailer promotes is exactly right up my alley, and if the film follows how the trailer has been edited, I have high hopes.
With a cast involving Ralph Fiennes, Janet McTeer, and Hong Chau, and a production team including Mark Mylod and Adam McKay, The Menu already promises to be an interesting watch. With how Chef Slowik's character appears to be the orchestrator of the entire event and the warning for the guests to run, it's giving a blend of Ready or Not and Escape Room, both of which I enjoyed. Even though 'a group of strangers in a scary situation' is not a new trope, the draw of a head chef that would leave Gordon Ramsay quaking and the threat of the line 'we gel' is enough to mark The Menu as an upcoming film worthy of my time.
