R60 back, with more to say than you can imagine. I'll put that last part in another post.

~~~So, the movie. As I noted, it seems "An Essay on Criticism" served with a side of "A Modest Proposal" but minus the condiment of cannibalism (irony!) so trendy today [Note: I thought for sure that the cheeseburger was one of the deceased, most likely the murderous "maitresse d'."], all encased, like a cinematic Boeuf en Croute, in "Ten Little Indians" with the pitiableness in "The Whale," the showmanship in "Elvis," and the feckin' comity-turned-enmity in "The Banshees of Inisherin," complete with the isolated island of Inisherin, "Lord of the Flies," and "The Most Dangerous Game."

And that's my multi-course Tasting Review! 😉 🍽 🍷

~~~I wish, though, that Chef's reasons for all the invitations had been revealed. I mean, the restaurant reviewer and the pretentious foodie are obvious, and Chef was ticked he wasted his day off on the actor's lousy movie (wait; did Chef just reveal himself to be a....bad critic?! Because didn't he later mock himself for it with his fake "Coast Guard" who "loved" the movie?).

That is to say, we learn that "Margot"/Erin is a prostitute with whom Chef feels Working-Class affinity [Movie Error? If Margot's presence was unplanned, then why establish a "personal business" connection between her and 9-Finger Richard?], but why was the Foodie's initial date invited to be killed? Were the three obnoxious Wall Street (?) bros condemned because of their financial shenanigans?

~~~The...Menu. It is a legit example of a 3️⃣✴ restaurant's menu degustation, except for the finale!

~~~S'mores. I've never partaken of other than "deconstructed," haha! But though that penultimate scene is brilliant and rousing in a sick "burning the heretics" kind of way, why S'mores? Was everyone there a former Girl Scout?! Seriously, as a final image of everything wrong with OTC "industrial" food products according to Chef, as well as (what the screenwriter viewed as) the quintessential edible from innocent childhood corrupted, wherefore art thou, S'mores?

~~~The Cast. //Ralph 🤪 👨‍🍳 was superb. He does "on and over the brink of madness" maybe better than any others. //Anya 👱‍♀️ 🚬 was impossibly big-eyed, straight off a Margaret Keane canvas [Note: "Big Eyes" is a tour de force for Christopher Waltz and Amy Adams.], which makes the contrast between her innocent face and how she gets paid for it here so striking. //Nicholas Hoult 😋 🍖 (the new James Marsden) was perfectly insufferable as the obsequious Foodie. //I thought Judith Light 👸 should have played the Restaurant Reviewer; she does trenchant well. //Have always loved John Leguizamo 😎 (saw his first one-man Broadway show); he never disappoints [I should name him in the "Actors You Will Always Watch" thread!].

Symbolism:

~~~Fire. 🔥 Transforming, purifying, consuming.

~~~Water. 💧 Vivifying, purifying, swallowing.

~~~Earth. 🌍 Nurturing, harrowing, decaying.