Eileen Gasperec

The general concept, cast, and setting made me excited to watch, but I was disappointed by the end of it. I found the twists to be very predictable. In order to make a quality plot twist there should be clues to help with realism, however there was nothing subtle about the foreshadowing in this movie. This is not an element I think anyone is looking for when they turn on a thriller. What annoyed me more was this film’s refusal to pursue one theme. Many of the characters were cliche depictions of rich people with no depth and don’t really care about the restaurant. A device that, unfortunately, seems intentional because the plot relies on this to explain why they all “deserve” to be killed. To me this doesn’t logically make sense as the only people who would pay for such an elaborate food experience would be people who consider themselves foodies. Rich people choosing to buy more expensive food in attempt to boost status is a thing. But no way is it believable that someone would travel to an island to go to a super exclusive and secretive restaurant (not even allowed to photograph) and not have a passion for food! On top of that regulars that can’t even remember a single dish they had there before. Are they serving their guests up Rohypnol or something?? Moving past this shortcoming, the one guy who was over the moon to be able to attend was treated even worse than the rest of them, confusing the message of the film even more. What muddied the plot even more for me was the mentality of the chef and his crew. I understand people taking service workers for granted is a genuine and widespread issue. But, someone working to achieve such accolades, skill, and achievement as the chef in this field literally must have a passion for service. If he didn’t he could easily pursue other ways to earn money with his immense skill such a being a private chef or instructor (instead of brainwashing and murdering people). I get the concept that eventually he just cracked, but then who is our protagonist if none of the service workers are rational actors? Surely it is the beautiful and talented Ana Joy Taylor as Margot! I really wanted to like her character but the only things that separated her from the other cast is not caring about the food all that much, having a little wit, and not being very well off. How is that inspiring? Genuinely what is the meaningful takeaway of this movie? I could make this review way longer by including each of the elements I identified hinting towards depth and thoughtfulness. But, I cannot really figure out how to as many of the pressure points and controversies have contradicting themes and lack cohesion. Overall, lovely cast and setting, but I finished the movie with much more questions than answers and not in the good way.