When Anya Taylor-Joy is papped in the streets of New York and London looking iconic, you know she must have something good to promote. Recently, that’s been The Menu, the new movie featuring the star of The Queen’s Gambit, alongside Skins’ Nicholas Hoult, Ralph Fiennes and Hong Chau, who also appears in A24’s The Whale.
It was released globally on Friday last week, and grossed $15 million globally in just three days — a pretty big number for an independent movie. To put that into context, it’s the highest grossing weekend that the studio — Searchlight Pictures (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Juno, The Favourite) — has seen since 2008, with Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire.
So why are so many people flocking to see it? Maybe it’s that standout cast, and the mystery of the film itself. Directed by Mark Mylod, the Emmy award-winning director known best for helming several episodes of Succession, The Menu follows a woman, played by Anya, who finds herself in the last-minute company of a weird, food-obsessed corp bro who’s spent thousands on a pair of tickets to travel to a strange, remote island and enjoy a fine dining experience rumoured to be like no other. Julian Slowik is the head chef there — a man revered by critics and renowned for being the greatest of his generation. When the pair arrive, they find themselves in the company of others like them: high society big spenders, actors, critics. But then comes the twist, and this meal to remember will become exactly that — only for all the wrong reasons.
The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival back in September to strong reviews, and has continued on that streak ever since. Original CIN called the movie “the most engaging horror-satire since Get Out”. The Austin Chronicle called it “satisfying and rich”. ABC News said that when you watch it, “you’ll laugh till it hurts.”
What’s more, now audiences are getting to see it for the first time, the hype is drumming up further, with the film on its way to becoming a word of mouth hit. People on Twitter are calling it “incredible” and “so fun to watch”. Others have called it a surprising crowd pleaser. So there you have it. Go see The Menu if you want to be stressed out, freaked out, but also laugh your ass off.