Horror fans have been eating well in 2022 with so many memorable original genre treats. However, just because the spooky season is over, doesn’t mean there isn't anything else on the horror menu this year. One of the most intriguing horror films closing out 2022 is The Menu starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, and Ralph Fiennes. The food-centric terror releases later this month, and now we have a new featurette for the film that showcases the horrors that lie ahead.
The short featurette mainly focuses on Fiennes’ “mad chef” character, who director Mark Mylod describes as someone “who wants to go out in flames.” Fiennes himself talked about the weird and dark layers that are found throughout this three-course meal from hell while calling his character a disturbing figure and a psychopath. Taylor-Joy also described the film’s style as a “completely different kind of horror.” If that wasn’t enough to get horror fans excited, the featurette is cut together with some disturbing imagery featuring our mad chef stalking Taylor-Joy’s Margot and smiling creepily into the camera.
This film has the classic set up straight out of a Hammer horror picture of a group of characters, including our main couple played by Taylor-Joy and Hoult, being invited to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant. While the last few trailers have given off the vibe that this film would be an oddball horror comedy in the vein of something like Ready or Not, this featurette doubles down on the fact that this is indeed a disturbing genre affair. Taylor-Joy has been horror royalty in the last number of years with masterpieces like The Witch, Last Night in Soho, Split, and Thoroughbreds under her belt. It looks like The Menu is going to be another genre-defining role for the young actress.
However, it also appears that Fiennes’ mad chef is going to be the next great horror villain. Fiennes has been one of the world's greatest talents for decades, starring in amazing films like The Grand Budapest Hotel, Skyfall, The Hurt Locker, The Dig and The King’s Man. Also, he has tons of villain experience with his iconic turn as Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter franchise. However, the one genre the famous actor hasn’t really dabbled in has been horror. The Menu is Fiennes opportunity to apply what he learned in Harry Potter to terrorize horror audiences.
The Menu releases its culinary carnage in theaters on November 18. From all accounts and reviews so far, this looks like it’s going to be one of the most enjoyably deranged horror misadventures this year. Along with Fiennes, Taylor-Joy, and Hoult, the film also stars John Leguizamo, Aimee Carrero, Janet McTeer, Paul Adelstein and Rob Yang. To prepare for this dreadful meal, you can watch the new "Horror" featurette for The Menu below: