MOVIE REACTION The Menu (2022) PATRON PICK First Time Watching Reaction/Review

How can I have s'more if I haven't had any yet?
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[@trulybtd5396]

One of my favorite details in this movie is that the coastguard dude is in the kitchen from the beginning, and noone notices, even the people watching the movie

[@yesitislikethat]

Nice catch! How did I miss that?! 🤦🏾‍♀️ I can just hear chef saying, “that’s not a rescuer, that’s Dale, you donkey.” 😂🤣

[@trulybtd5396]

@@yesitislikethat i choose to see it as the movie criticising us, the audience, as mere consumers of art

[@yesitislikethat]

⁠@@trulybtd5396 Oh, absolutely! That’s my take, as well. I’ve seen this movie at least a dozen times and failed to notice. 😂

[@fieryangel522]

And if you look really closely when she's scanning the photos and articles in Chef's home, Dale is partially visible in one of the photos behind Chef.

[@JeshuaSquirrel]

​@@trulybtd5396, except appreciating the subtlety of the storytelling moves us to appreciative consumers instead of mindless ones.

[@kiarya7939]

“You come in hungry, everything tastes incredible, you leave hungry, and stop to get a cheeseburger”- you guys pegged the entire plot at minute 10 of the movie 😅 very very impressive

[@penoyer79]

this movie is my spirit animal as my response to fine dining has ALWAYS been "but where's the fucking cheesburger?"

[@caggles]

I also loved around minute 4, when they're like "Is she being brought in as a sacrifice or something?" I mean, not the way they're obviously thinking... but... yes, that is EXACTLY what Tyler did to her.

[@matte5705]

His mom was his first critic, he mentioned he was never able to satisfy her. Everyone here in a different way he blames for killing his love of cooking and symbolically ruining the art of food. The food critic who thinks she gets to decide who's lives to ruin and who to elevate who made him believe the quality of food is dictated by its exclusivity. The sycophant who enables her as she destroys lives. The regulars who have no appreciation for his craft except as a status symbol The investors who believe their status entitles them to special treatment who think they know his vision better than him The Actor who views food as a means to fame and fortune but does not appreciate it as art The "foodie" who deifies food because it makes him feel smart but does not care about the cooks and sous chefs who have the skill to actually make it. The staff who enable him and never push back never challenge him only ever say yes chef. And finally and most importantly himself. Deep down he knows nobody is truly responsible for him getting sucked into this pursuit of fame and prestige if he hadn't gone along with it.

[@AnnekeOosterink]

And a small addendum, the actor who was in a terrible movie for the money, who betrayed his art for fame and money and no longer really loves acting as a craft anymore. Exactly like Slowik himself.

[@mothermayhem3255]

@@AnnekeOosterink The ring finger for his adultery.

[@AnnekeOosterink]

The bird you're supposed to eat whole is an ortolan. They're supposed to be blinded or kept in darkness for weeks, so they overeat, then drowned in brandy, and then roasted, not deep fried. And the shame is both from the fact that ortolans are super rare, they're a protected species, as well as the torture they're subjected to before they're eaten. (as an aside, heavy metal is not typically dissonant, even the really modern classic dissonant pieces, you know, the "piano bashing" ones, are not generally dissonant all the way through) I like that Erin's job is what made her able to not only read chef Slowik, but to give him an enjoyable experience. Her job requires her to read people and provide the experience that they want, she's always role playing as something, and that skill is what saves her, she knows what he wants, and she knows how to give it to him in a way that also saves her life. She's basically giving Slowik a bdsm scene, providing him with a script he can choose to follow. And he decides to do that. She gives him a final moment of joy, of rediscovering why he loved cooking in the first place, and in exchange she asks to leave. "Can I take the rest to go?" And he lets her go.

[@heatherharvey2558]

Oh, my gosh, thank you! Yours is the first comment I've read that clearly makes the connection between Erin's professional insights and the way she deals with Slowik at the end. It's honestly one of my favourite exchanges in the film because of that.

[@videohistory722]

You also eat the bird with your head covered, to symbolize the shame. The dish has since been banned because the bird is now an endangered species.

[@videohistory722]

From the original script: Lillian wasn't completely exaggerating when she said she put Chef on the map: He had another high end restaurant before Hawthorne, called Tantalus. Got 2 Michelin stars 2 years in, then closed up shop. Isn't heard from again until 3 years later, running a taco truck in Portland. He agreed to the interview only if he could keep his privacy, his own land, and it had to be by the water so he could source his own fish. It's established the movie star has a peanut allergy during the tour, and this turns out to be setup for the menu's eighth course, where Felicity is ordered to force feed him a dish completely comprised of peanuts so as to kill him through anaphylactic shock. Anne (wife of man who paid Margot to look like his daughter while j*cking him off) actually couldn't eat The Island as is due to a shellfish allergy. Hers was salmon. The broken emulsion gag escalates to where the servers literally waterboard Lillian with it. The restaurant has hidden cameras in the dining room, so even if Elsa missed something, it still got caught. The taco truck Chef was running was, according to him, the happiest he'd ever been, but Margot calls him out on it later, asking why he parked his truck at a Food Expo where he KNEW food critics were going to be, if he wanted to be left alone. Man's Folly was supposed to have more details about a woman chef's actual experience in the kitchen, from harassment to stereotypes. The women DO get bread with Man's Folly, and it IS as delicious as promised. You can even see Tyler chewing on bread when Chef comes up to confront him afterwards. Not only did Tyler bring Margot knowing she would die, he sincerely thought Chef was going to spare him. And even when called out on it, he STILL didn't apologize or take it back, because all he cared about was experiencing the menu. Them all coming to the kitchen to watch Tyler screw himself over wasn't originally in the script. They were just supposed to watch from the dining room. Margot makes another bid for her life before being ordered to go get the barrel. Which Chef appreciates enough to tell her so. Margot smiles upon seeing Tyler's hanging. Lillian realizes she's never going to get to write about this last experience, and THAT ends up being her real just desserts. Instead of dropping the ashes to set it all on fire, Chef originally drops a match. The last scene is of firefighters combing through the burnt wreckage, and the very last thing we see is the one photo of Chef as a young man, flipping a burger, but happy.

[@julius-stark]

Going into this movie blind is the optimal way to savor its flavor.

[@TheLisa-Al-Gaib]

I’m impressed that you guessed the cheeseburger angle so early on!

[@lilkat42]

Right? That was so funny!

[@videohistory722]

Oysters and lemon mignonette - Common flavors put together that have to be broken down and deconstructed, foreshadowing what happens to the guests. This is meant to be taken as Chef throwing down the gauntlet. Amuse Bouche - More foreshadowing. Charred lace - crater. Milk snow - ash from the fire. Cucumber and melon - the guests. The Island - Scallop on a rock - Chef presenting himself to the guests. Plants - "in the weeds" Breadless bread plate - straight up snarking at picky customers. But you can also make a case for Lilian's plate having a broken emulsion on purpose as his way of saying SHE'S as useless as a broken emulsion. Memory - Self explanatory The Mess - Pressurized vegetables - literal pun. Bone marrow - blood. Beef jus - sweat. Potato confit - tears. Man's Folly - Plum vinegar exists because of Umeboshi, whey plays a vital part in making yogurt, sea kelp and lettuce are what keeps the oceans biome from wreaking havoc. But everyone either doesn't know that or forgets, because they don't taste good, aren't as attractive, or can be very difficult to work with in their natural form. It's the same with women, especially when they try to speak out against unfair treatment like what the chef describes. They get called things like "bottom feeders", like crabs. Final scene with Margot/Erin eating the cheeseburger - She didn't care about giving him peace of mind. She just wanted to survive. And Chef acknowledged that. Using his menu as a napkin - She never believed anything he said for one second. She is, in fact, a taker that knows her worth. And that's why she lived.

[@Subbacultcha]

The fancy dish that you eat with a towel over your head is a French delicacy called "Ortolan Bunting". It's controversial because the bird is near extinct.

[@AnnekeOosterink]

Plus the way they're supposed to be prepared is torture for the bird, blinded weeks before death, overfed, and then drowned in brandy.

[@penoyer79]

i find it pretty funny that John Leguizamo based his character/performance off Steven Seagal whom he despises.

[@videohistory722]

Even funnier to know that it was supposed to be Daniel Radcliffe playing himself, but had to back out.

[@penoyer79]

@@videohistory722 no shit? that would have been great. lol that would have been great "man harry potter is an asshole"

[@videohistory722]

@@penoyer79 and voldemort finally got to kill him for good.

[@niles8102]

As a Jeremy that works in a restaurant, I now make THE MESS for my birthday every year :)

[@matte5705]

I usually have no problem separating characters and actors but Jesus christ did this movie ruin Nicholas Hoult for me he does such a good job at being just so deliciously realistically the worst

[@JeshuaSquirrel]

Regarding the actor character, the original idea was for Daniel Radcliff to play an exagerated version of himself. He was unavailable so they got John Leguinsamo instead to play the actor who had betrayed his art. Fun fact, John based the character on Steven Seagal whom John had met and created a strong dislike for on the making of Executive Decision.

[@caggles]

"Actually I can because, ding dong, I'm the one who's paying." So uh... this line hits different on a second watch, once you know the details of Tyler's relationship with Margot. I genuinely think Tyler deserves to go down as one of the most hate-able characters in film. Nicholas Hoult did an incredible job :D

[@doug3691]

Thanks for all of the good thoughts and guesses along the way, for a movie that seemingly demands our attention (repeatedly). Perhaps Chef found himself at the top of a tower of complexity and sophistication, where all joy of cooking for others has been drained away. Determined to make the best of it, and go out on top, he conceives one final menu, both triumph and revenge, and no escape for anyone. But freedom is found by one in a return to the simple, and the real -- a place of actual joy, where no one over thinks things, or puts on airs. And the loud claps: Pay attention, live your life fully, as you have no guarantee that your life will continue beyond this day. (Also, that cheeseburger at the end looked GOOD!)

[@justinehercthehuman]

There was a deleted scene in the beginning where the married couple actually explains why they were in the restaurant ahead of time. It was because they were regulars already so they skipped the tour.

[@kamronspencer4910]

That line is still in the movie it’s just a background line. They’re saying it while someone else is talking.

[@elusiveDEVIANT]

Right, I forgot the name of the dish, but you do consume a bird whole, kind of. I'll explain how it's done. A rare songbird is placed in a cage with a shroud. This makes it over eat. Once it's fat, you place the still live bird in a glass jar, you then fill that jar with the best brandy you can find. The bird drowns to death in the brandy. Once it's left to marinate, you take out the bird, pluck the feathers, then fry the bird whole. Once done, you place the bird in your mouth with one hand, and while eating it, pick out the bones with your other hand, usually the left. The eating is done all while you have a white cloth placed over your face, to hide your horrid actions from God.

[@fallingawayfromthenorm]

42:44 Not sure if you’ve seen Hannibal but it was depicted in that show, the birds they ate were ortolans.

[@littlehurrican0]

i think the film says a lot about how we consume and/or create art.

[@lilkat42]

I made it to the end! And I'll watch your channel forever!

[@Alyanya1]

Great reaction, watched to the end! I love this movie, it was so clever and entertaining.

[@Kasino80]

The crinkle cut fries can be very delicious if they are slightly overcooked. Then they become almost see through in some places and crispy like you won't believe. We had a burger joint in my town that made the BEST crinkle cut fries ever!

[@ALIENjoy]

I say this with love and respect: you guys look like Topher Grace and CM Punk :) lol

[@isleofredemption]

That bird thing sounds horrifying. O_O All I know is eating things with Gold Leaf. How damn pretentious is that? They could be using that gold for ANYthing, and you're putting it on a damn chocolate cate? "LOOK AT ME! I'M EATING GOLD!" Putzes.

[@VioletPixie213]

Hannibal had a horrific experience at a young age he parents died and so did his sister . The nazu people that kidnapped him and his sibling forced him to eat his baby sister forming his own deep trauma.

[@1x4]

I don't believe in the whole, 'Hooray. Eat the rich' commentary from a lot of people about this movie. I just enjoyed the suspense and the characters.

[@dunmwarupreachan4567]

The coast guard bit always bothers me. I called him out in theaters. Dudes not in regs, no squad, no M4, no uniform. Despite the Coast Guard being Homeland Security and not DOD. They still follow AR 670-1.

[@borodinring2]

In my opinion, this movie is about art and how people consume it. We also consume the movie. Do we appeciate art when we look at it? Is it our purpose to watch closer at art or is it just a way of passing the time?

[@ZakhadWOW]

this movie is currently vying with Saltburn for my titleholder for most batshit crazy thing Ive seen in yhears.

[@UnlicensedOkie]

I put together that exact same 1000 piece puzzle, that is behind y’all That company has some really neat puzzles with different similar designs

[@libarax]

The Grand Budapest Hotel is absolutely phenomenal!

[@yesitislikethat]

12:50 🤭 14:30 😏 14:52 😎

[@somthingbrutal]

it reminded me a bit of the amazing movie The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover

[@aranerem5569]

Really good movie

[@yesitislikethat]

17:04 I see what you did there. 🥩😏

[@アキコ2003]

The first time i watched it i enjoyed way more than i thought i would Waaaaay more

[@aranerem5569]

The cheeseburger scene

[@JeshuaSquirrel]

She and Chef had discussed that she provides experiences, so she provides Chef the experience of a good customer he hadn't had in years.

[@blutroyale8072]

Like the cheeseburger, that scene was just delicious...

[@cowsmooloud]

7 tables, 7 deadly sins.

[@cowsmooloud]

Well... 6 and the chef... same deal.

[@kellifranklin9872]

Please watch Saltburn next!! I love y’alls channel!

[@matte5705]

I'd highly recommend watching Talented Mr Ripley first if you haven't seen it

[@andreraymond6860]

There is a theory that the cheeseburger may have been poisoned and Margot doesn't really get awayi the end.

[@przemekkozlowski7835]

While the theory would fit the usual horror narrative, I feel it would be completely out of character for the Chef to poison her. A Chef serving tainted food to a customer is the ultimate sin in a kitchen. Some one like the Chef would never stoop so low.

[@AnnekeOosterink]

@@przemekkozlowski7835 Yeah, plus, that would be breaking the rules for the service industry, he cares for that. She provides him with a service (a role playing scene where she plays an unsatisfied customer and he the angry chef who feels joy at being asked to to cook a simple dish, she offers him the script, and he takes it) so he should pay her for that service. She asks to leave as payment (still within the bounds of the role playing script she created) and he lets her.

[@andreraymond6860]

Great response@@przemekkozlowski7835

[@rufusmay9615]

The director was asked about this in an interview and stated that it was not the intent of the movie, although anyone is free to have their own interpretations.

[@sparksdrinker5650]

Yeah that theory is stupid

[@robertglonek3320]

It was a very stupid movie.

[@devlinallistair-zx5by]

Fun fact: the cheeseburger was poisoned. GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE!

[@josephnarvaez9507]

No it's not.

[@snovaspectre2]

When I'm in a making up things competition and my opponent is you 😨

[@NiarahHawthorne]

The director of the film himself says that is patently untrue and at best, a personal interpretation.

[@OmoZed]

I love your hearing thoughts on each scene (very insightful), but it worries/ frustrates me a little when you miss something (especially when I consider it essential 🫠). Maybe pause the movie when you want to share? Great reaction all together, though!