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The Menu Review

 

Certificate: 15

Running time: 107 minutes 

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Nicolas Hoult, Hong Chau, John Leguizamo

Directed by: Mark Mylod 

The story: A young couple travels to an isolated island to experience an exclusive menu created by a legendary chef.

The verdict: As soon as The Menu began, I knew I was really going to like it. Part of that was to do with how it started and I loved how there was absolutely no preamble or prologue - The Menu is like an event that the audience is invited to and as such we start as the event begins.

The Menu has a great cast and in spite of there being little time to get to know everyone, each character successfully inhabits a distinct personality. Very quickly the audience comes to know the characters and has a very good idea of who they are. This demonstrates very proficient writing and The Menu has a sharp and witty script. 

The cast is great and in particular it was great to see Ralph Fiennes in another villainous role. Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicolas Hoult are also really good and overall I really enjoyed the performances.

The Menu has an underlying satirical thread throughout and it makes astute observations about society, however it never takes itself seriously and the result is a film that is infinitely watchable and really good fun.

I found that I was grinning throughout and though it would be understandable that there may be some who feel that it’s all a bit too streamlined - I loved that this film knows what it is, what it wants to say and just does it without veering off course (pun intended). A gloriously dark and delicious treat.

The rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a half

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