The Menu

I have come to realize that there is a genre of movie that I absolutely love. It’s not just Noir Detective or Dark Comedy, (although I do really love those genres) but it’s “poor/working class woman survives the bullshit.” While that isn’t necessarily a genre you can look up on Hulu or Netflix, you can probably think of at least 2 movies that fit this description.

The easiest two are the (so far) duology of Knives Out and Glass Onion, both of which feature Benoit Blanc solving a mystery in order to benefit the working class women who were screwed over in one way or another by a rich person (or family). I love these movies because they’re a more modern take on Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot mysteries except instead of Christie’s casual racism (look up the two previous titles for her novel And Then There Were None, not a Poirot novel but still jarring), Benoit is helping Women of Color in situations where the other party’s class a privilege would have the women at an extreme disadvantage.

Another movie that follows this working class woman vs the rich trope is The Menu, and it’s quickly become one of my favorite movies of the last decade.

If you’ve only seen the trailer for The Menu, I can assure you that it’s doesn’t go anywhere you think it will, but if I’m being honest that fits with the overall theme of the movie. There is a level of misdirection in the storytelling that is satisfying as character histories and motivations are revealed piece by piece. The story starts by introducing us to Margot and Tyler, who look to be a young couple with mismatched enthusiasm about a once in a lifetime chance to eat at a restaurant called The Hawthorne. Margot seems mostly uninterested in the foodie bullshit, and instead seems to just be there to support her boyfriend who is a massive fanboy to The Hawthorne’s head chef, Julian Slowik, and also a massive asshole. The two of them along with a menagerie of egos that include a group of finance bros who are admittedly terrible people (they even say out loud that they suck and it’s not cringe),an actor who exaggerates his friendship with the chef, an arrogant food critic, and an older couple who have experienced the restaurant so many times that they are completely apathetic to the entire experience. As the night continues, and each course is presented things become more and more unsettling. Relationships, revenge plots and redemption arcs are revealed and in the end Margot, the working class girl, ends up the sole survivor of a very bad dinner.

While it can be seen as a commentary on class, ego and how both of those things can breed selfish people, the main reason I love this movie is because Margot, as a main character, is honest and willing to call out the bullshit, which is ultimately the reason she survives.

Margot is not a likeable character, and she isn’t meant to be, but even with Margot being unlikeable she’s still not a bad person, especially not compared to the other people around her. From even before they make it to the remote island where The Hawthorne is located, Margot is critical of the experience, from the $1200 per person price tag for the dinner, to the other guests, and even the initial snack that the group is presented with on the ride over to the island. She finds all of it to be over the top and pretentious, and has no problem expressing it when she seems it’s necessary, despite Taylor continually belittling her for “not understanding.” During the dinner, when confronted by Slowik about her lack of interest in the food she tells him that she is perfectly capable of deciding when she wants or doesn’t want to eat something and during another particularly important reveal, she doesn’t hesitate to throw punches at Tyler for putting her in an awful situation. There’s no meekness about Margot, despite what her position in life is compared to these other people she stands in her personhood and will not let anyone take that from her. And it’s this personhood, this willingness to be honest about what she wants that ultimately leads to her escape.

The movie is excellent, and I’ve enjoyed every rewatch I’ve had so far. I’d definitely suggest people give it watch.