Shocking Horror Comedy On Amazon Leaves Your Stomach Churning

The narrative of The Menu centers on an exclusive high-end restaurant titled Hawthorn, which is accessible only to the super rich, and operated on a remote private island.

During dinner service, celebrity chef Julian Slowik offers a tasting menu to his small group of carefully curated patrons, which grows more and more elaborate with each new course.

Each course is preempted by an increasingly unhinged monologue, which causes the guests to unravel in terror, especially when the culinary creations that hit their placemats are unveiled.

At one point in the dinner presentation, the sous chef commits ritualistic suicide, while patrons who attempt to leave are held in place under the threat of physical violence.

Eventually, Slowik proclaims that every person on the island, staff and guests alike, will die by the end of the evening, sending everyone into a frenzy.

By the time The Menu builds to its stunning climax, viewers at home will have gone through a range of emotions from hungry, to horrified, to never wanting to eat again… and maybe back to hungry one last time, before the credits roll.

The Menu offers a fun and exciting commentary on the state of art, commercialized consumption, and loss of passion. While the film is positively dripping with these themes, it can still be enjoyed as a surface level horror flick if you’re just looking for something to throw on in the background.

Somehow, this film about pretentiousness serving as a soulless replacement for simple and basic pleasure manages to capture both the pretense of a high art film and the simple nature of a slasher flick, making it a truly unique watch.

Critics and audiences alike fell in love with The Menu upon release, resulting in dozens of awards nominations and an excellent 88 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The heady writing, visually shocking set-pieces, and top-shelf performances were particularly praised by critics, including those from Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, John Leguizamo, and Mad Max: Fury Road‘s Nicholas Hoult.

Those portraying kitchen staff in the film were carefully trained under three-time Michelin star recipient Dominique Crenn to actually construct the freakish culinary experiments used for the movie, though many of them are designed for their visual aesthetic, and cannot actually be eaten.

For those interested in reliving the chaos of this film, or those looking forward to checking it out for the first time, The Menu is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Just be sure to wait 45 minutes after eating dinner to press play on this one, because otherwise the whole viewing experience might upset your stomach.

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