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The Menu poster

Is The Menu OK for Kids?

ComedyHorror
17+
R⭐ 7.2 / 102022 · 1h 47m
Mark Mylod

Where to Watch

United States

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Streaming data by JustWatch

What's In It

Based on the actual screenplay
⏳

We're re-reading this screenplay with our upgraded analysis. Scene-by-scene moment counts aren't available for The Menu yet — the summaries below are from our earlier read-through. Check back soon.

🗡️Violence
Extreme▼
  • A sous-chef shoots himself in the head during dinner service in front of all guests
  • A man has his finger cut off with a knife when he tries to leave, with blood and screaming shown
  • Multiple characters drown, hang themselves, and are stabbed to death on screen
  • The finale shows all remaining characters burned alive in a restaurant fire
💬Language
Extreme▼
  • The f-word is used frequently throughout, approximately 30+ times
  • Multiple uses of s**t, b**ch, and a**hole
  • Characters frequently use vulgar sexual language and crude insults
  • Profanity is often directed at service staff and used in aggressive confrontations
👻Scary Scenes
Extreme▼
  • The isolated island setting with no escape creates intense claustrophobic dread
  • Chef Slowik's increasingly unhinged behavior and psychological manipulation of guests
  • Sudden violent deaths occur without warning during what should be a pleasant dinner
  • The final sequence of people being burned alive is deeply disturbing and could cause nightmares
💕Romance
Very Mild▼
  • Brief references to sexual services and escort work
  • Some suggestive dialogue about relationships but no physical intimacy shown
  • No nudity or sexual scenes depicted
🍺Substances
Moderate▼
  • Wine and alcohol are served throughout the elaborate dinner courses
  • Multiple characters drink heavily, including one character described as alcoholic
  • Substance use is portrayed as part of high-end dining culture without consequences shown
⚡Stimulation
Mild▼
  • Tension builds slowly through psychological manipulation rather than fast action
  • Sudden violent moments punctuate otherwise quiet dinner conversation
  • The pacing alternates between calm dialogue and shocking outbursts of violence
The Menu — Heads Up for Parents

Despite being marketed as a dark comedy, the film contains genuinely disturbing scenes including an on-screen suicide and graphic finger amputation that may be more intense than the R rating suggests.

About The Menu

A young couple travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises. The celebrity chef Julian Slowik introduces increasingly unsettling courses before revealing that all guests will be dead by night's end as punishment for their roles in corrupting or exploiting the culinary arts. This is a dark psychological horror-thriller that satirizes elite dining culture.

✅
Fine for kids to watch alone
While disturbing, mature teens can handle the content and themes without parental guidance

Family Takeaways from The Menu

What it gets right

  • ✓Critiques the excesses and pretensions of elite culture and wealth inequality
  • ✓Shows how creativity can be corrupted when it becomes purely transactional
  • ✓Margot's character demonstrates authenticity and working-class values triumphing over pretension

The Menu Cultural & Values Guide

Cultural & Values Guide

Faith & Religion
●Religious mockery depicted

Chef Slowik's ritualistic approach to fine dining and his treatment of cooking as a sacred art form deliberately parodies religious ceremony and devotion. The film mocks the pretentious reverence that both the chef and diners show toward haute cuisine as if it were a spiritual practice.

Cast:Anya Taylor-JoyRalph FiennesNicholas HoultJanet McTeerPaul Adelstein

Is The Menu Appropriate for Your Child's Age?

✗Age 5: Not recommended for 5-year-olds
✗Age 8: Not recommended for 8-year-olds
✗Age 10: Not recommended for 10-year-olds
✗Age 12: Not recommended for 12-year-olds
✗Age 13: Not recommended for 13-year-olds
✗Age 15: Not recommended for 15-year-olds
✓Age 17: Generally appropriate for 17-year-olds

Individual children may vary — use your judgment.

Parents also ask about The Menu

  • Is The Menu appropriate for a 17-year-old?
  • Does The Menu have violence?
  • Is The Menu OK for kids?
  • What is the age rating for The Menu?

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