Mark Mylod discusses whether The Menu is a horror film

Mark Mylod says his new movie The Menu hits a "sweet spot" between various genres and isn't a straight-forward horror film.

Ralph Fiennes leads the cast as a celebrity chef who has invited a selection of elite clients to his high-end island restaurant, only to serve up a uniquely sinister selection of dishes.

Among the guests is snobbish foodie Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), who has brought fine dining sceptic Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) instead of the guest he had originally booked to accompany him.

"I don't see it as a horror film. I do see the trappings of a dark thriller as very much an important part of the triangle of the tone of the film," Mylod told Yahoo Entertainment UK.

The Menu is in UK cinemas from 18 November.

Video transcript

TOM BEASLEY: I wanted to ask a bit about genre. Do you see this as a horror film?

MARK MYLOD: I don't see it as a horror film. I do see it-- I do see the trappings of dark thriller as a very much important part of the triangle of the tone of the film, and allows us to kind of package the story in a really fun way. To me, on reading it, there was this mash-up, a triangle, really, of satire and dark comedy, and this thriller horror element of it. And that, to me, I'd never really seen before. And it was because I could feel it instinctively. But I'd never really seen it before. That was a huge attraction to doing the film. It felt really fresh to me.

TOM BEASLEY: Absolutely, it's a great time to be doing a satire about how wealthy people are terrible.

MARK MYLOD: Yes, exactly.

TOM BEASLEY: Yeah.

MARK MYLOD: And hopefully, [INAUDIBLE]. Hopefully, it digs into bad choices that humans make, actually, that you have to live with the consequences. That's Ray Fiennes's character, who is actually consumed with self-loathing, but also manages to be hilarious at the same time, of course.

TOM BEASLEY: Yeah, absolutely, it's so funny. And you kind of feel guilty for laughing at this film sometimes.

MARK MYLOD: Yeah, yeah, the perfect thing is, we had the premiere in London last night. And when the audience are kind of simultaneously laughing and gasping, that's a real sweet spot for me.