The Menu(2022)
2022 · Mark Mylod · 107 min
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.
Comedy · Horror
7.26.6k votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
2/5
Gore
3/5
Stays with you
How The Menu scares
It opens like a sleek, satirical drama about rich people at a fancy dinner, then slowly tightens course by course until the mood turns genuinely tense and unsettling. There are no monsters or jump scares here; the dread comes from control, humiliation, and the sense that something is very wrong under all that polished elegance. It's darkly funny for a long stretch before it turns cold and menacing, mixing satire with real unease rather than outright terror. Good for people who like their horror smart, slow, and laced with class commentary rather than blood and chases.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, The Menu rates psychological 4/5, visceral 2/5, gore 2/5, lingering effect 3/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 4 of 5
- Visceral: 2 of 5
- Gore: 2 of 5
- Lingering: 3 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 10 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 95 of 100 — leans Real-world
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 45 of 100 — balanced
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
It starts polished and slyly unsettling, then steadily tightens course by course into a nerve-wracking, high-stakes finale.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5.
How scary is The Menu?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, The Menu rates 3/5 — solidly scary, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. The fear is mostly in your head — it unsettles far more than it assaults. Expect it to be moderately gory and scary but not punishing. Some of it will follow you to bed, but it lets go within a day or so.
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