Famous Actor Struggles To Convince As A Waterloo Native

Every single time I'm tucked in, watching a movie at home and see or hear any sort of reference to Iowa my ears always perk up. I like to watch closely to see if they got specific details correct about some towns in the Hawkeye State.

Do they know that there are way more pigs than people here?

Will they pick up on our love for college sports?

Is there even a single mention of a mouth watering pork tenderloin?

Sometimes they hit it right on the nose, and other times it's clear that the Hollywood creatives could've replaced the Iowa town for any other town in America.

Get our free mobile app

The rest of this story will contain light spoilers for the 2022 movie "The Menu."

I was chatting with my sister on the phone one day when we started talking about movies and tv shows we've watched recently. Before I could even get a word in, my sister who lives in Philadelphia said,

"I watched that new movie "The Menu" the other day and they said something about Waterloo, Iowa. I was actually really proud of myself! No one else even knew that Waterloo was a real place!"

Of course I had to watch it for myself and see what exactly was said about the city.

"The Menu" came out late last year and quickly became a smash hit for horror film buffs. The movie follows a group of rich people who go to a mysterious island where a world renowned chef operates an INCREDIBLY fancy restaurant.

"A couple (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travels to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises."

The film stars Ralph Fiennes as Julian Slowik as a chef with some tragic plans for his customers. Throughout the film, we follow along as the guests have an expensive themed dinner with multiple courses. It starts off delicious but quickly turns deadly.

For the third course, Fiennes' character prepares the gaggle of guests a dish that is based off of the idea of "memory." It's a delicious looking house smoked breast chicken thigh al pastor with tortillas. To top it all off, there are a pair of scissors stabbed into each chicken.

This is the dish that put the young cook on the map.

In a very unnerving monologue the chef talks about an important memory of his. He talks about growing up as a child in Waterloo where Tuesday was taco night.

Taco Tuesday isn't unique to Iowa, buddy...

Strike one...

His father was incredibly abusive to him and his mother. He frequently would come home drunk. On one particular Taco Tuesday, after his parents got into an argument his father tied a telephone cord around her neck. In order to fight back, the young boy had to stab him in the thigh with kitchen scissors.

This scene was well performed and acted. However, I could not believe for the life of me that this menacing chef came from Waterloo. I couldn't hear any notes of a Midwestern accent at all!

Plus, if he really was from Iowa, you would've thought he'd incorporate some pork into the dish. Or better yet! A Maid Rite!

All in all, it was still an incredible movie and I recommend it to people who are fans of horror movies and also hate rich people.

Watch part of that clip down below!