Film of the Day: THE MENU

Early scene from THE MENU starring Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult & Hong Chau.

One of my biggest complaints about horror films is they go for the cheap scare, depending more upon a character committing a stupid action instead of exercising common sense. This film is different, building up an atmosphere of dread and danger in a gradual way. You sense something is coming but you’re not sure what, not even when it’s about to smack you in the face. All the while when you’re expecting something to happen, a very dark, very twisted sense of humor comes into play as you watch a group of diners being served at a very exclusive, very high-end restaurant named Hawthorne’s which is located on it’s own special island. To say anything more would spoil the fun, but Bernie & I felt it was the most intelligent horror pic we’ve seen in some time and much better than we expected.