Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult in The Menu (Searchlight Pictures)

The Menu is a ruthless, barbed-wire black comedy and social satire with razor sharp performances. It’s also easily one of the year’s funniest films.

It begins with a group of people being escorted to a private island to dine at Hawthorn, a restaurant run by Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes), known as one of the most creative and exacting chefs in the world. They are about to embark on a four-hour, eight-course meal. After a short tour of the island, they end up in the restaurant, a gorgeous oak burnished room with an open kitchen. Slowik works the room and introduces the meals in the most pretentious way possible. Each course begins with a story. By the end of the meal, each dish and story will compose a theme. Unfortunately for the patrons, that theme comes at their own personal risk.

To say more about their fate would ruin this absolutely delicious film. Director Mark Mylod has directed quite a few episodes of Succession and Game of Thrones, so that may give you an idea of what you are walking into. The guests are a diverse group with one common attribute: They are rich enough to pay $1,250 for the privilege of a meal. They range from a pompous foodie (Nicholas Hoult), a snobby food critic (Janet McTeer), a trio of finance bros, a washed-up actor (John Leguizamo), and finally to a couple who are regulars at the restaurant (Judith Light and Reed Birney). In terms of character development for these guests, there isn’t much. Most of that is parceled to Slowik and the foodie’s last-minute date, Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy), who continually punctures a hole in the haute cuisine pretentiousness of the proceedings, to the point where Slowik calls her out for not eating his food. She insists she’s not very hungry. Slowik seethes as he states that she needs to eat to understand the story of the meal. This has no effect.

What seems to be a pointed, if obvious, satire on foodie culture, chef worship, and the indulgences of the rich slowly and luxuriously unravels, as if peeling the layers of an onion to get to the meatiest, pulpiest heart of the vegetable. Here, that’s the takedown of the self-loathing artist, the ego and the pomposity one must have to loathe the audience who pays your bills. Julian Slowik is, in essence, a close cousin to Ricky Gervais’s Andy Millman from Extras. This makes sense, considering scriptwriters Will Tracy and Seth Reiss cut their teeth on late-night talk shows and the late, lamented The Onion News Network.

What gives the scenario its depth is the evolving relationship between Slowik and the more down-to-earth, astute, and clever Margot. It turns out she’s in the service industry in her own particular way, and while she understands Slowik’s plight, she has far too much self-esteem to agree to the path he has decided to take this particular evening. Taylor-Joy’s performance is finely tuned. She—again the onion metaphor—slowly reveals herself, first to Slowik and then to us. One of the great pleasures here is watching two superb actors square off. There’s almost a feel of torch passing as Taylor-Joy easily matches Fiennes in depth and charisma.

The Menu is a sly, sophisticated watch. Although it has something to say, it doesn’t skimp on one of the main reasons we go to the movies, for the fun of it.