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I’m not sure that The Menu is the best title for this film. It is essentially a horror film set in a restaurant and I can’t help but think they should gone with some cheesy name like they did for Violent Night, the new movie with David Harbour’s Santa killing terrorists that trailered before I screening I saw. Maybe they could have called this Served Cold or maybe Final Girl Final Course. How about Hurt Cuisine? That would have worked.

I think part of the reason they didn’t go this way is because they believed they were above it, but they’re really not. I get the impression that the filmmakers thought they were making a culinary themed Funny Games but what they’ve ended up with is more like The Slumber Party Massacre in a Cafe Rouge.

Okay, that’s not fair but while this movie starts with some nice levels of class and intrigue, it does get a bit silly toward the end. Like the psycho obsessive chef that invites a range of diners he wants to punish to his exclusive island eatery, it requires a certain precision that remains forever, frustratingly out of its grasp.

This isn’t to say it isn’t fun. Ralph Fiennes plays a particularly measured and engaging antagonist and he is surrounded by a cast of strong actors of whom John Leguizamo and Nicholas Holt stand out. Holt is particularly interesting as his character has a whole series of odd motivations and actions that only make sense at the end. Hong Chau also gives a nice performance as the patient and polite host who clearly detests her customers and can’t wait to watch them suffer, something that may ring true to many in the hospitality industry.

The lead is Anya Taylor-Joy though, who having already fought off people who wish her harm in Split, The Secret of Marrowbone, The New Mutants and Last Night in Soho finds she is having to deal with this crap again. As ever though she does this with class and a bold determination. She may have worn a slip nightie to eat out but generally she is the Ripley figure in this treacheroustaurant. Hey, that’s what they should have called the film