Those Chef Jackets Though! A SPOILER-FREE Review of 'The Menu'

Kenny Ashton - The Cineboiz

Close your eyes for a moment and think about your favorite restaurant. What’s the first thing that comes to mind? The food? The atmosphere? No. If you’re anything like me, the first thing you think about are the chef jackets. You’re not at a real restaurant unless the kitchen staff are all wearing authentic, white, pristine chef jackets. ‘The Menu’ at its core is a film that truly understands the importance of this. Is it a fantastic thriller with a twisting plot, great direction, solid writing and clever acting? Sure, we’ll give it that too, but the Clement Design chef jackets featured in this film are the true stars of Mark Mylod’s ‘The Menu’.

‘The Menu’ is a film right out of the gate that leaves us with a lot of questions. We are introduced to a cast of characters who are all invited to Hawthorne Island to enjoy a meal and experience catered by Chef Julian Slowek (Ralph Fiennes) wearing our EVOQUE chef jacket:

The group consists of a young couple (Nicholas Hoult & Anya Taylor-Joy), a magazine editor and his food critic (Paul Adelsteen & Janet McTeer), three corporate bros (Rob Yang, Arturo Castro, & Mark St. Cyr), a washed-up actor and his assistant (John Leguizamo & Aimee Carrero) as well as an older, wealthy couple who are regulars at Hawthorne (Reed Birney & Judith Light).

It’s clear that this occasion at Hawthorne is a very special, invite-only event. Chef Slowek, in addition to his cult-like kitchen staff (also in beautiful MANTOVA Clement Design chef jackets) and his unsettlingly loyal assistant Elsa (Hong Chau) have curated a menu with overarching themes and delicate food. This culinary journey quickly turns into something much more dangerous and deadly for the guests as the film takes some bold directions that even I wasn’t prepared for.

Putting these beautiful chef jackets to the side for now (as hard as that is for me), what makes this movie work so well are its performances. Every actor in this small-scale of a movie embodies their character brilliantly. Perhaps there are no two better examples of this than Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy. Their characters are the heart of the film and the unexpected relationship that develops between them creates the most interesting plot-twists and developments. I would be remiss to not mention Nicholas Hoult’s performance as an obsessive-millennial foodie is also fantastic. There is a great scene where he too is also asked to wear a beautiful Clement Design chef-jacket as well, but I’ll leave it at that as to avoid any spoilers.

This is director Mark Mylod’s first film since 2011 as he is mostly known for directing episodes of shows like Succession, Shameless and Game of Thrones. This experience seems to be showcased here very well, as the film deals with many different subplots and character arcs. The way that these are all so well brought together in a relatively short run-time is masterful. One could say that Mark Mylod is the Clement Design Chef-Jacket of ensemble film direction? People are saying it.

When all is said and done, “The Menu’ is simply a refreshing twist on the horror/thriller/comedy sub-genre. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does more than enough to stay interesting and keep us engaged. It helps that its biggest strength is a short runtime that juggles multiple subplots and characters very well. It’s a film that will reel you in quickly, but won’t leave you thinking about it for days after. It’s simple yet fun and entertaining, but likely won’t be featured on the award’s circuit–unless there’s an Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chef’s-wear. Clement Design is going to run away with it.

VERDICT: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

CHEF JACKET RATING: 6 out of 5 stars.

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