With ‘The Menu’ Director Mark Mylod Serves Up A Treat
07.12.2022 - 20:45
/ deadline.com
Mark Mylod’s The Menu, from a script by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, has become one of Searchlight Pictures’ best success stories since its release last month, racking up the company’s biggest opening weekend since Slumdog Millionaire.
The recipe for the mix of chills and thrills that delight and terrify diners including Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Janet McTeer and John Leguizamo, has been carefully balanced by its director with all the precision of the dark head chef, Slowik, played with relish by Ralph Fiennes. And though Mylod will admit he is no foodie, it’s the precision of its satire on fine dining that bites the hardest.
Mylod’s name will be familiar to fans of Game of Thrones and Succession, for which he has directed multiple episodes (he is also an EP on Succession). His first feature in 11 years, released as he shoots Succession’s fourth season, is a powerful statement of intent for the brand of dark, incisive entertainment he is most interested in delivering.
Over breakfast in a nice restaurant—where else?—Mylod walks us through how he served up his most delectable dish (with the mildest hint of spoilers throughout).
DEADLINE: The most important questions come first: do you have the scripts for the new season of Succession on your phone right now, and have experienced a robbery before, or will this be your first?
MARK MYLOD: I actually have been robbed, yes [laughs]. A couple of times in Lewisham [a London borough]. The scripts are on my phone, but you need the password, so it would cost you…
Yeah, we’re in the middle of shooting now, and it’s good. I’m really happy. Well, I’m terrified, obviously, but I’m also really proud of it. There’s a lovely thing where successive seasons have been—not raising the