A look at how the creators of the new satirical film, now streaming on HBO Max, took the already high-pressure world of elite restaurants to a thrilling and terrifying level.
By Julia Moskin
Published Nov. 17, 2022Updated Jan. 12, 2023
Vessels by Match Stoneware
Is the thriller “The Menu,” now streaming on HBO Max, a parody of the state of fine dining? You’d think so: A small group of people pay astronomical sums to be isolated on an island, fed ingredients that wash up on the beach by employees who are trapped there, and subjected to the hospitality of a creative visionary who is secretly filled with rage.
Yet much of this is a reality in the top tier of modern restaurants, a world that has become a fascination of popular culture.
The movie is billed as “black comedy horror,” but the horror that stalks this Agatha Christie-style island is not gore; it’s gastronomy. Anyone who has ever felt trapped in a “chef’s tasting,” whether of four or 40 courses, will recognize the roller coaster of claustrophobia and euphoria, satiation and starvation that is “The Menu.”
In interviews with the people who dreamed up the food in the film, the consensus was that the tropes of modern fine dining are so extreme that there’s little need to exaggerate them.
Read full article at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/17/dining/the-menu-movie.html