They say too many chefs spoil the broth, but House of Spoils (2024) doesn’t just curdle the soup, it torches the kitchen, leaving a rancid mess that’ll leave your appetite for horror starved. Desperately chasing the sizzling success of The Menu’s razor-sharp culinary terror, this movie fumbles its knives, serving a bland stew of recycled suspense that never comes close to the sophistication of its predecessor.
Fueled by ambition, a skilled chef (Ariana DeBose) leaves the comfort and stability of her current job to pursue her dreams of becoming head chef at her own restaurant. Partnered with Andres (Arian Moayed), the restaurant’s owner, Chef is in charge of reenergizing an old, run-down building that once bustled with activity as a local eatery. Now, it’s little more than a forgotten relic.
In a reckless gamble with little preparation or notice, they rashly summon a food critic to sample their menu, thrusting them into a panicked whirlwind of cleaning, they scramble to salvage their decrepit kitchen in a chaotic frenzy to scrub every filth-ridden corner. Yet, despite their frantic efforts, the space still reeks of neglect, a grimy disaster begging for a health code violation. If this kitchen were any more unsanitary, even the rats would file a complaint.
Chef, who is never given an actual name in the movie, finds herself facing unexpected setbacks with her menu. Forced to switch to Plan B. The critic’s verdict slices like a blade, “no soul,” a cruel blow that leaves her dreams bleeding out on the kitchen floor.
It flickers some intrigue, its murky path teetering between unease and something far darker, leaving you guessing where its knife-edge will fall. With Andres unhappy over the disastrous tasting, he begrudgingly offers Chef a two-week window to redeem herself with a menu so sublime it might resurrect her shattered ambitions and earn her the head chef crown.
Unfortunately, as the movie wears on, it begins to feel more like a chore than an enjoyable experience to get through. The plot lurches into a half-baked descent as Chef grapples with her fracturing sanity, the line between reality and hallucination blurring, yet it’s all so dreadfully dull, it barely registers.
The sole spark in all of it seems to revolve around a shadowy “Witch” who hisses the cryptic order to feed the soil, sending Chef into a bizarre tailspin of obsession over a creepy vegetable patch and dishes so unappetizing they’d make a ghoul gag. But even this oddity fails to ignite the screen, leaving you yawning through most of it.
Even if this might pique your curiosity, brace for disappointment, as House of Spoils mostly serves up a scare-free void that leaves you cold, unless you count the gaping, logic-defying plot holes that lurch through the story like drunken elephants in a crystal ballroom, impossible to ignore.
The fatal stab to the heart is its utterly unlikeable protagonist, Chef, whose portrayal is so grating you’d rather root for the bugs infesting her kitchen. As the story stumbles forward, her unraveling psyche and petulant instability don’t just alienate, they practically shove you out the door, making it impossible to care whether she triumphs or tumbles into madness.