Watching the official trailer for “The Menu,” it can be hard to know what the movie is really about. Beautiful food is featured, but there’s a sinister tone that hints that maybe there’s more than haute cuisine being served.
The film centers on couple Margot and Tyler, played by Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult, who are heading to the ultra-exclusive Hawthorne restaurant, located on a remote island and headed by the reclusive Chef Slowik, played by Ralph Fiennes. However, things take an unexpected turn as the night unfolds and the truth about what is really happening inside this secluded location is revealed.
“It’s a delight to watch with an audience,” says Seth Reiss, one of the film’s two writers, adding the emotional reactions to one of the film’s key shocking moments have been thrilling to see.
“There’s like a 10-second moment (when) the movie takes its biggest turn. And then we cut to a character who says, ‘Well, I didn’t see that coming,’ And when that turn happens, people are shocked. And then when that line happens, people laugh and before that moment, people feel very bad for the person who’s being talked about and so it’s basically three distinct different emotions in 30 seconds.”
Though “The Menu” takes some shocking twists, one thing audiences can look forward to throughout the film is great food design. And according to Reiss, this is entirely by design.
“The food should continue to look beautiful,” he said. “There should be an elegance that should carry through the evening because that’s what the restaurant in the film strives to produce. It’s a kind of elegant consistency. And so to keep that elegant consistency going is key tonally and also it does make things funnier, and more horrifying.”
John Leguizamo, who plays a washed-up actor in the film says that he’s excited to see how American audiences specifically respond to the film’s pitch-black humor.
“Americans generally have not done well with black comedies [and] dark humor. More Americans usually like broader jokes, or thrillers [that are] more dry and serious. But this is like that European flavor of humor and drama. A fine-tuned, more elevated sort of storytelling. That’s what I love about it because I feel like America is ready now.”
Leguizamo’s character, who is sometimes referred to by a character name in the movie, is one of the film’s more tragic figures, and Leguizamo said it is easy to see why audiences might feel for his character a little more than others in the film.
“You always feel bad for movie stars,” Leguizamo said. “There’s a sense of loss and I guess we empathize with that part of [celebrity] when they’re not at the top of their game and they’re trying to save face all the time, trying to act like they’re still somebody like [Norma Desmond] in Sunset Boulevard.”
Leguizamo said he is excited for audiences to experience the film, and dissect what it means.
“People come to enjoy the ride, the humor and then you know, question their lives, question themselves and question people around them and, start learning to be more decent and respectful to others,” he said.
“I think that’s the hidden moral,” Leguizamo continued. “I think that we need to be much more inclusive and respectful and treat people with decency. I think that’s what everybody is lacking.”
“The Menu” is now playing in select theaters. Tickets are available at themenufilm.com.
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