While Netflix original movies are hit and miss, a lot of its licensed pickups are excellent. While its own Back in Action, starring Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx, has been #1 for a long time, I am more interested in the actually good movie that is currently #3 on the list, 2022’s The Menu.

We are almost halfway through the 2020s now, and I would in fact say that The Menu is one of the best horror comedies of this entire decade. It barely even fits into that genre, but horror comedy is about as close as I can get, but it is a black comedy, to be sure.

It has an amazing cast including its two leads which have exploded in popularity since its release, Nicholas Hoult, star of Nosferatu and the upcoming Superman, and Anya Taylor-Joy of Furiosa fame, plus she starred in one of Netflix’s most popular series ever, The Queen’s Gambit, back in 2020. Oh, and did I mention it also has Ralph Fiennes as the central chef in question? Star of Conclave? The movie that’s about to land a bunch of Oscars?

The Menu is…bizarre in the best way. It has an 88% critic score and a 76% audience score, very good, but I think it deserves even higher. Here’s the synopsis which does not really do it justice either:

“A couple (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travels to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.”

People…eating dinner at a fancy restaurant? I will admit it does not sound like a thrilling ride, but I can promise you it is. It’s hard to know what to compare it to, but I might say Nicholas Cage’s Pig. Maybe The Invitation. Midsommar? There’s not a ton of equivalents, but that’s what makes it so special.

I cannot recommend this film to everyone as it is deeply weird and as a black comedy, definitely not laugh out loud funny (I’d say the ending is), nor is it “horror” in the traditional sense you’re probably thinking of. But if you’re a fan of the weird and well-acted, I definitely think this is one of the most interesting movies I’ve seen in the last few years, and it’s worth a watch if you can get past the fact that it may not actually sound that good from these descriptions. Just trust me.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.