Fiennes makes a menacing meal of ‘Menu’ role

MIXING horror, comedy and thriller together into a sizzling pot of genre ingredients, “The Menu” is the film to stream this month.

Served up on Disney Plus, this creepy takedown of pretentious fine dining stars Ralph Fiennes in one of his most menacing performances.

He’s Chef Slowik, a meticulous genius, a worshipped cook with a restaurant on its own island – one that sets its absurdly rich customers back more than $1200 just to get in the door.

We board the boat that travels to this island with 12 of these connoisseurs eager to experience the culinary creativity of Slowik.

With each dish, the food becomes more absurd and more hilarious.

From foam and leaves to a bread plate which abstractly features no bread, the courses are ridiculous and yet somehow not far from the real world of lavish cuisine.

Salivating over every dish is Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), an obsessive foodie who unwittingly worships whatever is put on his plate.

He’s contrasted by his date Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) who’s not having a bar of all this pretentious nonsense, at one point referring to the island as “the base camp of mount bullshit”.

While “The Menu” starts with this simple fun poking at fine dining, it’s not long before things take a sinister turn.

With each dish the meals become increasingly macabre, transforming what was supposed to be a night of dining into surviving. is just how unpredictable each of its five courses are. It’d be a joy to put into words just a few of the bizarre “meals” that have been conjured up here, but to do so would be spoiling what makes the film so much fun. The anticipation to see what insane delicacy is up next is what makes it tick. is the true story of the star of the British series “Crossroads”, a dirt-cheap soap opera that kicked off in 1964 and stayed on the airwaves for 28 years.

It’s not quite cooked to perfection and the ending will leave some viewers divided, but “The Menu” is one film that goes down a treat.

While “Crossroads” and Gordon’s unceremonious sacking from it in 1984 is what she’s most known for today, “Nolly” attempts to rewrite her legacy by highlighting the remarkable and seemingly unsung achievements of the TV stalwart.

Bonham Carter’s lived-in performance makes “Nolly” not only a heartfelt tale of a real-life figure, but also an intriguing look at the evolution of the TV industry.

NETFLIX is again proving its penchant for making weird animal documentaries.

It’s hard to believe that almost three years ago now “Tiger King” took the world by storm with its magical and mullet-sporting zookeeper Joe Exotic.

Later there was “My Octopus Teacher”, a surprisingly emotional tale about a man and his eight-legged best friend.

This time the animal is a little more domestic, but no less absurd. “Gunther’s Millions” is a four-episode docu-series about the world’s richest dog – worth more than $US400 million.

The German shepherd inherited the fortune from a countess who died in 1992.

The cashed-up pooch has more than two dozen staff who cater to its every need, lavish portraits, and even travels by private jet. “Gunther’s Millions” is a show that, if absolutely nothing else, will serve to get people talking.

Her new streaming biography here comes from the mind of prolific screenwriter Russell T Davies, known for his work on “Doctor Who” and more recently “It’s A Sin”. That sort of penmanship combined with

Between this and the recent decision to get rid of password shar ing, it seems Netflix is going barking mad.