“What are we eating? A Rolex?”
So quips Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) in Mark Mylod’s The Menu as she waits with her date, Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), a devoted foodie who has landed them a reservation at the exclusive restaurant Hawthorne. Like the opening of Rian Johnson’s upcoming Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, an eclectic, upscale bunch gathers eagerly on a dock to be ferried to a private island.
The movie, like their meal, unfolds as a series of courses, each more elaborate, and sinister, than the last. This is such rarefied haute cuisine that entries are promised that will not just represent food realms like protein and fungi but “entire ecosystems.”
Photo: AP
A paired pinot wine is said to feature “a faint sense of longing and regret.” Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes), Hawthorne’s celebrity chef, presides over the restaurant less like a cook than a military commander or, possibly, a god.
“Do not eat,” Slowik tells the diners. “Taste.”
He is, to say the least, not someone James Corden would want to quibble with.
Photo: AP
The world of fine dining has, for a while now, been ripe for satire. And The Menu happily supplies a heaping plate of it. The film, which hits Taiwan’s theaters on Dec. 2, may be aimed at somewhat low-hanging fruit and may ultimately not have all that much to chew on. But Mylod, who directed a number of the episodes to Succession, brings an icy, stylish flare in another kind of cleverly staged eat-the-rich comedy that — particularly thanks to the elite eye-rolling of Taylor-Joy and Fiennes’ anguished artist — is still a very tasty snack.
The screenwriters Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, both veterans of the Onion, bake an amouse bouche of commentaries on class and service industry dynamics into an increasingly unhinged, and bloody, romp that may not offer too many surprises but consistently hits a satirical sweet spot.
Dining alongside Margo and Tyler are a trio of tech bros (Arturo Castro, Rob Yang, Mark St. Cyr), a movie star (John Leguizamo) and his assistant (Aimee Carrero), a prominent food critic and her editor (Janet McTeer, Paul Adelstein) and a married couple who are Hawthorn regulars (Reed Birney, Judith Light).
Photo: AP
From the beginning, the question of whether they’re worthy of the brilliance they’re about to be served is a pervasive tension — a feeling that accelerates absurdly and disturbingly as the evening wears on.
Elsa (Hong Chau), their guide and the restaurant’s manger, certainly doesn’t seem to think so. She deliciously tours them through all things Hawthorne, inviting the guests to watch the chefs in the open kitchen “while they innovate,” announcing dishes like “a breadless bread plate” and generally stealing the show. Her pretentiousness is merciless and grows increasingly less subtle.
In the ear of one complaining tech bro she whispers: “You will get less than you desire and more than you deserve.”
The same, perhaps, could be said of The Menu, a film with many tantalizing ingredients. Of all the patrons, Margot fits in the least, something that Julian recognizes immediately. His immaculately orchestrated morality play isn’t intended to have a place setting for her.
As we can see in how she winces when Tyler describes the “mouthfeel” of a meal, she doesn’t worship at the same altar of high cuisine. But even as The Menu teeters unevenly in its third act and things get gruesomely less appetizing, its greasy last bites succeed in capturing one common aspect of molecular gastronomy: The Menu will leave you hungry.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built
“Once you get there, you think, that’s a little embarrassing or revealing or scary... but ultimately, I learned that is where the good stuff is,” says Taiwanese-American director Sean Wang about writing indie breakout Didi (弟弟), which debuted at Sundance Film Festival Asia 2024 in Taipei last month. Didi is a heartwarming coming-of-age story centered on the Asian American experience. Not just a 2000s teenage nostalgia piece, but a raw, unflinching look at immigrant families and adolescent identity struggles. It quickly became the centerpiece of the event, striking a chord with not only those sharing similar backgrounds but anyone who’s ever
“Magical,” “special,” a “total badass:” step forward Kamala Harris, the 59-year-old dynamo who has rebranded her country at lightning speed, offering it up as a nation synonymous with optimism, hope and patriotism. For the rest of us, Kamala’s gift is her joy and vibrancy — and the way she is smashing it just months away from her seventh decade, holding up 60 in all its power and glory. Welcome to the new golden age. Hers is the vibrancy of a woman who owns her power, a woman who is manifesting her experience and expertise, a woman who knows her time has
RSS