The Menu (2022, Netflix Rental, Blu-ray) Review

[SRW1000]

The Menu consists of a pompous guest list, served stunningly gorgeous dishes by a devoted and meticulous staff, all orchestrated by an immensely talented chef surrounded in a secluded, self-sustaining, exclusive island.  All covered in a metaphorical secret sauce that binds them together.

Ralph Fiennes starts as Chef Slowik, a master food artist who has created a small, intimate dining experience using the locally grown food from and around the island.  His performance is convincing and heartfelt, and brings along a certain depth to this film, as more than just a Gordon Ramsay, or other celebrity chef, clone.  His character gives the audience some insight and perspective of how such a master might view food as more than just simple sustenance.  One can draw comparison to Nicholas Cage’s performance in Pig, with both really digging into the heart of the role.

His loyal staff is prepared to follow every command, as they are the tools to complete his vision, and act as an extension of his will, working as a synchronous unit to craft a unique experience around the meticulously planned menu designed by the chef to tell a particular story.

As one would expect, the guests are largely from the upper ranks of society, and each has a story that the audience will discover during the movie.  Pretentious airs abound, in both personality and the carefully constructed dishes they are served during this unforgettable evening.  Among the performances are Nicholas Hoult, Anya Talor-Joy, as a young couple, John Leguizamo as an actor whose best days are well behind him, and Judith Light and Reed Birney as repeat customers.  Some of the roles straddle the edge of shallow stereotypes, but not to the point of distracting from the story.

At its core we have a tightly written script with clever twists from two writers that used to work on the old Onion TV show, solid cast performances that contributed some improv lines, a soundtrack that builds tensions as the movie plays out, all combining to explore themes of art, critics, the cult of celebrity, class structure, and the meaning of food.  And yet it never gets preachy about it.  It presents topics for the audience to think about but doesn’t tell them what to think.  One might find a small fault at part of the ending, but not major enough to impact the story itself.

While this was just the Blu-ray, the food photography really stood out, with colors and textures highlighting the glamours nature of the dishes being offered.  Much of the movie takes place at night, producing some excellent contrast shots, never becoming muddy.  While the ending credits show that the movie was produced with an Atmos soundtrack, the included disc mix is simple DTS-MA 5.1.  That said, the DTS Neural-X upmixer in my HTP-1 did an admirable job creating an enveloping environment.

(As a small digression, I’ll mention that there is a short scene at the beginning of the movie where the overhead PA system instructs the passengers to make themselves comfortable for the short trip to the island.  We compared just the four top speakers by repeatedly listening to the upmixing capabilities of the DTS Neural-X, Dolby Surround, and Auro-3D upmixers, DTS was the clear winner.  While all three managed to extract the PA announcer’s voice, DTS sounded both the most natural and most clear.  I can’t imagine an Atmos or DTS-X mix doing a better job with this scene.  There’s another scene that I fully describe for risk of giving away part of the plot, where both the Dolby and Auro upmixers bloated the bass in the scene, and again DTS sounded the most natural.)

This is one of those easily overlooked movies that didn’t get much publicity and falls outside of a normal Hollywood production.  The structure and pacing pair well with the story, and it never drags.  How much you like it may depend on how interested you are in the art of food, say molecular gastronomy and deconstructed dishes, along with how much you enjoy dark humor.  My wife and I went into this blind, thoroughly enjoyed, and will be adding it to our collection.

If any of this sounds interesting to you, I can easily recommend watching this movie, and also that you avoid reading anything further about it so as not to spoil the surprises in store.

Scott

[David Vaughn]

I was given a review digital copy of this but never got around to watching it. I may have to give it a go now after your recommendation. 

Thanks for the excellent review! Also, great comments on the DTS Neural-X mix--it's my preferred upmixer as well. 

[SRW1000]

I was given a review digital copy of this but never got around to watching it. I may have to give it a go now after your recommendation.

Thanks for the excellent review! Also, great comments on the DTS Neural-X mix--it's my preferred upmixer as well.

I'd be curious about your thoughts if you do watch it.  I'm becoming less interested in today's big-name movies, and much more engaged with these smaller, but smarter films. Don't know if that's just my age or the content, but inclined to believe it's the later, since older blockbusters are still interesting.

The DTS Neural-X upmixer does a remarkable job with these 5.1 and 7.1 mixes, especially considering how disappointing some of today's Atmos mixes are.  It's still disappointing to see 5.1 content, but when they can somehow magically extract top speaker effects that legitimately belong in the top speakers, it softens the blow considerably.  It also does a great job of keeping out sounds that don't belong above the audience, better so that the Dolby or Auro upmixers do.

I'm eagerly awaiting the long-promised DTS-X Pro upgrade for the HTP-1, in hopes that it creates an even better experience.

Scott

[David Vaughn]

I'd be curious about your thoughts if you do watch it.  I'm becoming less interested in today's big-name movies, and much more engaged with these smaller, but smarter films. Don't know if that's just my age or the content, but inclined to believe it's the later, since older blockbusters are still interesting.

The DTS Neural-X upmixer does a remarkable job with these 5.1 and 7.1 mixes, especially considering how disappointing some of today's Atmos mixes are.  It's still disappointing to see 5.1 content, but when they can somehow magically extract top speaker effects that legitimately belong in the top speakers, it softens the blow considerably.  It also does a great job of keeping out sounds that don't belong above the audience, better so that the Dolby or Auro upmixers do.

I'm eagerly awaiting the long-promised DTS-X Pro upgrade for the HTP-1, in hopes that it creates an even better experience.

Scott

The "upmixes" are way more active and aggressive than the actual DTS:X/Atmos mixes. Sometimes they sound better that way, but occasionally, they can be a bit too aggressive and distracting IMO. Gotta take the good with the bad. 

[SRW1000]

The "upmixes" are way more active and aggressive than the actual DTS:X/Atmos mixes. Sometimes they sound better that way, but occasionally, they can be a bit too aggressive and distracting IMO. Gotta take the good with the bad.

That's one of the reasons I prefer whatever it is that DTS is doing with Neural-X.  The Dolby and Auro upmixers both feel too noticeable to me when compared, while I don't recall ever hearing an upmixed DTS mix sounding anything but natural.

With the advances of AI and upmixers, I wonder when we'll see the day that they'll be able to somehow interpret the video content to assist with steering some discreet content.  Those results could be game changers, even for older content.