The Menu, a film about the culinary comeuppance a group of wealthy people receive from a devious kitchen staff, was one of the most acclaimed horror-thrillers from 2022 for a variety of reasons. Not only did The Menu have a large ensemble cast of great actors (Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, John Leguizamo, Aimee Carrero, and more), but the film used food in gloriously weird ways, from dark secrets laser-printed on tortillas to ridiculous but horrifying human s’mores. Beyond its elaborate set pieces and fun performances, the film delivered a cutting, class-conscious commentary.

A crucial element to this critique comes from the separation of classes and the divisions between consumers and producers. One of the most important ways to visualize this difference in The Menu was through costuming, something that designer Amy Westcott (Black Swan, The Wrestler, Nightcrawler) knows well. While The Menu has been released digitally, the new Blu-ray release contains features which explore multiple facets of the film, and one of the most interesting featurette has interviews with Taylor-Joy, Fiennes, and Westcott regarding the costume design and how it reflects the two actors’ characters. You can take a look below.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes on How Costumes Connote Class

Fiennes plays the head chef of this seemingly prestigious culinary event, and Taylor-Joy plays an escort who is pretending to fit in with the wealthy elites of The Menu. In different ways, each character is part of a profession that relies upon the often gluttonous desires of wealthy people who spend lavish amounts of money in order to consume what they themselves can’t procure, be it Michelin-rated food or beautiful bodies. There are secretive twists to each of them, though, and the costume design slyly reflects this.

Fiennes is fascinating when describing his character and the chef’s outfit he wears, likening it to a priest’s or surgeon’s. It’s somehow both minimalist and refined, while also being working class, refusing to ostentatiously broadcast any kind of power or authority. Taylor-Joy liked her character in The Menu because of the escort’s parallels with the performative nature of acting; she’s pretending to enjoy something, and masquerading as someone she isn’t. “We didn’t want a stereotypical portrayal of what people think an escort looks like,” said Taylor-Joy, and with her dyed hair and flowing dresses, she’s certainly distinct.

The Menu Is Out on Blu-ray

     Searchlight Pictures

These interviews come from the Blu-ray of The Menu, which has a neatly formatted and meticulously detailed featurette titled, Open Kitchen: A Look Inside The Menu. Like fine dining, the featurette is divided into ‘courses’ which explore various aspects of the film’s production, characters, and themes. For a movie as lavishly produced and visually interesting as The Menu, there’s certainly enough material to cover, and the Blu-ray delves deep into the infamous s’mores scene, the development of Fiennes’ character, the casting, and practically everything else. It all contains a variety of deleted scenes which add more to the film in hindsight.

While 2022 was a banner year for horror, The Menu stands out from the rest by combining disparate elements into one very satisfying dish, like some chef’s great gastronomic process.

From Searchlight Pictures, The Menu was produced by Hyperobject Industries, Gary Sanchez Productions, and TSG Entertainment, and the Blu-ray is out today.