The Menu
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Summary
The Menu ’s ending brings the dark caustic remark to an unexpected conclusion . aim by Mark Mylod from a screenplay by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy , The Menufollows famous person chef Julian Slowik ( Ralph Fiennes ) as he puts his affluent eatery invitee through a dining experience like no other . Once the 11 guests , include Tyler ( Nicholas Hoult ) and Margot ( Anya Taylor - Joy ) , arrive , things start going awry . Slowik ’s dinner guests soon chance on he may have invite them for something far more sinister than gourmet culinary art .
At the end ofThe Menu , it ’s explained why Chef Slowik , along with what stay of his faculty , burn down Hawthorn with all the Edgar Albert Guest — make unnecessary Margot — still inside . Margot bunk , watch over as Hawthorn exit up in flames with Tyler and the other node trapped within — punished for their excessive wealth and self - indulgence by Slowik . The spectacle of the conniption is a talk point in and of itself , but it ’s the secret and deep social commentary that madeThe Menuending so inspired . The Menu’sstory has great deal of layer quick to be peel back and explored .
From Fresh to Bodies Bodies Bodies , there are many great horror films about party and privilege that will attract to devotee of The Menu .
Slowik’s Plan In The Menu: Why The Chef Wanted To Kill Everybody
Slowik Held His Guests Responsible For Ruining Fine Dining With Their Pretentiousness
The Menuending explained thatChef Slowik ’s plansfor the eve , which he slowly revealed after each course , were baleful but not without design . The force , murder , and cut down of Hawthorn were n’t random or sadistic . Chef Slowik is penalize Hawthorn ’s guests because they are the drive of the o.k. dining industry ’s pretension and elitism — both of which eat at his joy for cooking over the course of his life history .
The guests ’ riches has pushed the food industriousness forrad , but it has also made the dining experience costly , widening the gap between socioeconomic classes and suck the life and pleasure out of the try out experience . Chef Slowik feels like a phantasm of his former ego , and his resentment of the gluttonous elites who expend landing a table at the Hawthorn as a show of status became so overpower he had to dissemble .
He require them to try out lawful powerlessness before they perish .
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Chef Slowik ( Ralph Fiennes ) want to make his guests , all used to wealth allowing them to live free from aftermath , feel embarrassed and affronted by the time the fatal last course of study rolled around . Slowik ’s patronage are shallow , ego - serve , and disconnected from the authentic human experience — something he seeks to remedy .
The celebrity chef made his Edgar Guest experience what it was like to sense incapacitated at someone else ’s mercy . He wanted them to savour true powerlessness before they died . The fact their consumerist elitism was also responsible for the art being lost from cooking in Slowik ’s eye only fueled his rage , and by the end ofThe Menu , he’d had sight of opportunities to act on the decades of repressed hatred .
Why Margot Was Allowed To Leave In The Menu’s Ending
Margot Gave Slowik Some Of His Passion Back
ThroughoutThe Menu , Chef Julian Slowik is get by Margot ’s presence . As the film unfolds , audience watch that Chef Slowik has a very particular program , and Margot is simply not mean to be a part of it . Margot is not wealthy or pretentious , nor does she see his cuisine as anything but intellectual nourishment — it ’s not an elect experience for her .
Chef Slowik finds in her a kindred spirit of sorts , someone who understands what it ’s like to get up with very short , but has punt the system in some room to get onward . Slowik need to penalise the elite group , but not Margot ( Anya Taylor - Joy ) , who has not harmed anyone or an total diligence .
The famous chef is renowned for the exquisitely detailed menus of the Hawthorn , creating elect dining experiences costing grand . However , Margot is unimpressed with his solid food and its presentation , not empathize what the big peck is . Margot challenging Chef Slowik to make a luscious ground beef catches him off guard , but it ’s this very request — and Margot ’s approval of the repast — that is whyMargot is allow to leave behind .
Margot reminds Chef Slowik of his roots and the joyousness of use up a well - prepared repast . The fact that Margot is not pompous about the hamburger suggests she understands the experience of mindfully tasting food for thought more than any of Chef Slowik ’s pretentious guest pretend to , and since she holds none of the wealth or pomposity he ’s grown so resentful of , he ’s o.k. with letting her leave so that she may inhabit .
Why Tyler Killed Himself In The Menu (& What Did The Chef Whisper To Him?)
Slowik Also Revealed Tyler’s Secret About The Deadly Evening
Tyler ’s destruction inThe Menustands out as a especially compelling one . Throughout the dark , Tyler is always trying to try himself to Chef Slowik by name - dropping different ware and methods the Chef uses to produce his signature dish . Slowik does him one better by inviting Tyler into the kitchen , even giving him a chef ’s coating , and demand that Tyler fake for his guests . The amateur cook thenhaphazardly create an undercooked lamb , mortify himself in front of his hero sandwich and all of Slowik ’s Edgar Guest .
Tyler expend his intact life sentence worship Slowik , only for his hero to scorn him and turn up in front of an consultation that he ’s a fraud .
Chef Slowik then whisper something into Tyler ’s pinna , to which Tyler replies " Yes , Chef , " before excusing himself . Before long , it ’s revealed that whatever Slowik whispered induce Tyler to hang himself with his own necktie . One of the biggest twists of the evening is that Tyler was aware of Slowik ’s design but attended the dinner anyway , bring Margot along despite knowing that everyone would buy the farm . Tyler had already choose his dying — he just expired sooner than expect .
Bringing Margot along without any respect for her life reveals his disdain toward the lower stratum and service workers . Tyler spent his integral living idolizing Slowik , only for his hero to despise him and turn out in front of an interview that he ’s a fraud . Tyler was already prepared to die for the Chef , and after such abasement , his suicide was most likely a sycophantic attempt to show his dedication and redeem himself .
It ’s never revealedwhat Slowik whispered to Tyler inThe Menu , and onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon , Nicholas Hoult revealed the explanation was also never in the script .
" No , no , it was n’t script what he whispers in my capitulum . And Ralph is fantastic … And he would extradite different thing … different thing in my ear … You do n’t want to know what he was say . "
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That perfectly speak to what makes the whispering so significant . Though audiences can deduct what Chef Slowik said to Tyler inThe Menu , the whispering keep Slowik ’s expert handling tactics a mystery , and itshows how much power Slowik has over his guests while make audiences imagine the uncollectible possible dialogue .
What The Menu’s Cheeseburger Means
The Final Order Is Margot’s Salvation
As the guests slowly begin to realize that there is no way off the island after the ferryboat operator turns out to be a plant by Slowik , Margot strain to plot her own escape . She strides to the kitchen , telling Slowik that she does n’t care his food and that she ’s still hungry . Slowik asks what she wants , and Margot , recalling the picture she see in his cabin , asks for a cheeseburger with fries .
Slowik tenderly progress to this repast for her , and when she asks for it to go , he gives her a doggy purse , and she break away via the ferry . The last shot take care Margot on the ferryboat , eat her cheeseburger while Hawthorn burns to the ground . Several theories have come forth aboutwhat the cheeseburger inThe Menurepresented . One of them is that the burgers are made from human core ( probably Tyler and the sous chef ) .
However , The Menu ’s cheeseburger is more symbolic than anything . The cheeseburger inThe Menurepresents where celebrity Chef Julian Slowik got his beginning as a cook , and where his love of cooking began . Margot realizes this after he mentions to her that he finds no delight in his artwork any longer , and she enquire for the cheeseburger in a last - ditch effort to reignite some form of spark in the chef .
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Thankfully for Margot , this works . Chef Slowik sees she is dissimilar from his other guests and allow her to leave . Slowik ’s warmth for nutrient began when he was a line of merchandise cook , as evidenced by the picture in his cabin , and he found his joy in making simple albeit delicious intellectual nourishment . Margot ’s round-eyed request for a cheeseburger inThe Menurekindled some of Slowik ’s love for his craft after years of serving patron like Hawthorn ’s cursed invitee gnaw at it .
Why The Other Guests Never Properly Tried To Escape From Chef Slowik
They Would Rather Die Than Have Their Secrets Exposed
One lingering criticism ofThe Menu ’s ending is that the client put very piffling effort into self - saving . As many viewers have mark , their luck may not have been inevitable if they ’d all resisted . This , however , is where the film ’s sexual climax has another layer of complexity , and this " criticism " is actually just pointing out another strength of the plot of land . Chef Slowik ease up his Edgar Albert Guest the chance to go forth Hawthorn and the remote island , but they do n’t seem to try that firmly — which is on the nose why they were hand - selected for the evening and sent invitations .
Slowik knew on the nose what made them tick and how they would react , and foresaw that they ’d probably make no real attempt to leave . However , as a failsafe , the celebrity chef also ensured that he had blackmail material . The guests still felt stuck because Slowik had data on them that they did n’t desire to be made public . Most of these secrets were revealed in the wetback course , which run into individual etchings on the tortillas display his guests ' secretive doings .
For instance , Lillian ’s writings as a food for thought critic had conclude down legion restaurants , and Richard was a serial adulterer . Bryce , Dave , and Soren were misappropriate money — and George ’s taco etching was a movie poster of a bust plastic film he did simply for the money . The guestsdon’t have the same tier of emotional principle or reasoning as viewer . They are all dread , self - serve people . The average spectator would , of course , try on to escape the Hawthorn , butChef Slowik ’s cautiously selected guest do n’t have that survival instinct .
Withevery form inThe Menudripping with substance , Chef Slowik knew that his guests ’ report and pridefulness took precedence over their fighting to live . The Menuending excuse that money talked above all else , and the guests would rather face death than deal with the consequences of Chef Slowik relinquish certain information .
Despite the men take a 45 - 2d straits start , they did n’t assay all that hard to escape , being found easily by Slowik ’s stave . The women , on the other hand , did n’t even attempt to escape at all . Rather , they went back inside Hawthorne ’s dining hall and talked among themselves , at long last accept their luck .
Why The Hawthorn Staff Goes Along With Chef Slowik’s Plan In The Menu
Slowik Has Inspired Blind Devotion In His Team
The Menuending show that Chef Slowik ’s staff snuff it along with his devious plan for one grounds only : devotedness . This devotion towardsThe Menu ’s villainis primarily shown through Elsa and Slowik ’s sous chef . The sous chef is the first death of the even , film himself in the chief when Slowik affirm that his dish is dependable , but not good enough . Elsa truly demonstrate how invest she is when she assay to kill Margot because Slowik asked Margot to find the barrel for the dessert line , rather than her .
This is also a commentary on the dehumanizing element of working in catering and fine dining .
Throughout the entire evening , the staff ’s deathless devotedness to their leader is abundantly clear . Every demand is encounter with a unvarying " Yes , Chef ! " , and their almost militaristic piece of work ethic check them as a conglomerate force play rather than individual masses . For whatever individualistic reasons , Chef Slowik has found a ride - or - die faculty that is devoted to his overall vision , no matter the price . This is also a commentary on the dehumanizing element of working in catering and fine dining .
The subtext is that devotion to Hawthorn and its business has had a standardized impact on the staff as it has on Slowik , although , unlike their murderous yet self-directed drawing card , the staff has instead become almost inane shells , existing only to pursue edict and serve the delivery of the evening ’s menu , even if it ’s a lethal repast program that ends in their Death .
Margot’s True Identity: Why She Hides Her Real Name & How She Knows Richard
Margot’s Secret Connects Her To Slowik
Margot , like everyone inThe Menu , is n’t who she says she is . However , it is n’t until Chef Slowik takes notice of her that it ’s revealed something is haywire about her backstory . Margot is actually a sex prole whose genuine name is Erin . It ’s show that Erin has well - paying clientele because Richard , who shop at Hawthorn with his married woman , has hired her before .
Margot ’s work is intriguing to Chef Slowik , and he believe they , unlike the other guests inThe Menu , understand each other in a means no one else does or can . Margot is not a fat snob but is someone who is weight down by the wealthy , like Tyler , while profiting from them at the same time .
What The Theme Of The Dinner Menu & The Human S’mores Final Course Mean
Slowik Returns To His Roots & Makes The Guests Themselves Part Of The Dining Experience
The final course at the closing ofThe Menuis an elevated s’mores dish . After the faculty covers the floor with humbled graham crackers and various sauces , the Edgar Guest are made to don a form of bonnet made of marshmallow and chapeau made of chocolate . Slowik opt this exceptional dish because it is an unmatched potpourri of flavors that is only made double-dyed because of blast .
After this explanation , the entire restaurant is set alight , and the guests burn alive , fulfilling Slowik ’s wishes . The s’mores are another recall to the famous person chef ’s lowly beginnings , but the true meaning found in his speech is that they are perfected by fire , bringing his homicidal architectural plan full traffic circle as he sets his guests alight .
The Menuisan testing of the usurious consumer culture , of gourmet , and the superficiality of the wealthywho believe they ’re giving to the ok dining experience when they ’re really leeching from it .
The film has a lot to say about the origins of the food for thought Chef Slowik ’s guests enjoy — from the working class and hapless primarily — and how that very food , when overly commercialized and treated as an “ experience ” for the rich , becomes less creative and enjoyable over time . An example of this is Chef Slowik ’s heat for creating meals fading because his guest do n’t really taste the food . They are more obsessed with the details of the repast than with the pleasure it provides .
The Menuis also a comment on the course divide and how the full-bodied gentrify experience — such as all right dining — and make them entirely inaccessible to all but the elite group for no rationality other than to be socially undivided . This is shown in Tyler ’s obsession with Chef Slowik ’s use of ingredients — Tyler does n’t much manage about the food itself , he care that he can expend it to sense superscript to everyone he believe wo n’t appreciate Slowik ’s work , such as Margot .
This snobbery , and Tyler ’s eagerness to indulge it , finally seal his luck inThe Menuending , but the fact the guests die as human s’mores ( a dish antenna that is anything but pretentious ) , adds a layer of irony which yet makes the themes of class separate abundantly decipherable .
What The Menu Ending Got Right About Fine Dining Culture
A Real Chef Was Consulted For The Film
Every single part ofThe Menu , from the scuttle to the finale , is steeped in actual - biography o.k. dining civilization . The work party exit to slap-up lengths to entrance all the experiences of both dining and put to work at a Michelin - star restaurant . Director Mark Mylod work with Michelin star - winning chefs to create the restaurant and the food inThe Menu(viaLos Angeles Times ) . Dominique Crenn , the chef of San Francisco ’s Atelier Crenn who create her mantrap in the form of verse form , showed Mylod how chefs work in the kitchen . The chef explain :
“ It was not just about the detail of the food ; it was a point of everything that was placed , the campaign , the saltation , the manner that the host will hold the bottleful , or the sommelier . ”
Crenn also worked with Fiennes , teaching him how to play like a mulct - dining chef at the end of their leash , which is why Chef Slowik ’s ire felt extremely veritable inThe Menuending . The considerable weight on Chef Slowik ’s shoulders as portrayed by Fiennes throughoutThe Menucame across as unfeigned , like it really had result from decades of work in the eating house industry , which became indispensable in conveying the substance meaning and themes ofThe Menu .
While it might seem bizarre , Chef Grant Achatz was even an influence on the over - the - top s’mores presentation inThe Menuending too — the volatile finale when Slowik set the restaurant ablaze was influenced by Achatz ’s Jackson Pollock - like live - sop up tabletop desserts .
Will The Menu Get A Sequel?
No Plans For The Menu 2 Have Been Announced
There have not been any plans forThe Menu 2,and this is n’t a bad thing . While the fabulously positive critical and audience reception ofThe Menuand its incredibly complex ending may free a sequel numerically , a follow - up could lessen the first pic . For all its shocking moments , The Menuis ultimately a movie with a message . The equivocalness of the ending — from why Chef Slowik allow Margot leave to what the meaning of the cheeseburger was — is an all important constituent .
In many agency , it mirrors the experience of many chefs and kitchen stave throughout the universe — an entire day of chaos and stress that feels almost nonsensical once the repast is over and the diners have diverge . This was one of the key themes ofThe Menu , the disproportionate layer of dedication and forfeiture made by the faculty to make a standout meal among many the frequenter will have eaten in their life-time . That more or less befuddled response of " What just happened"from the audience is one many real - life chefs and those who make in high - end catering can touch to .
If there were a subsequence made , The Menu 2would diminish this shock . There would be inevitable pressure forThe Menu 2to explain the events ofThe Menu , or to dilate onthe origin of Chef Slowik , or even to create a narrative with Margot that place her as the next murderous Chef ( or mayhap , in Margot ’s case , an escort ) . While these estimate may seem tantalizing at first , all would diminish the impact ofThe Menu ’s termination as they ’d create far too much exposition , or make Chef Slowik ’s final act simply the center of a wide-eyed fib .
There’sno continuation toThe Menu 2 in the works , and none of the cast or originative team have give any hints that they ’re pushing to develop one ( or even concerned ) . While sequels and franchises find par - for - the - line in the 2020s , many standalone movies only work so well because they ’re a hold back story . The cease ofThe Menuwas one of the most wide discussed of the decade so far , and all the reasons it ’s so piquant would benegatively impact ifThe Menu 2went before .
How The Menu Director Mark Mylod Explains The Menu Ending
Mylod Doesn’t See Slowik As A Villain
While the theme of class part and social social stratification andThe Menuending are absolutely clear , a lot of the picture show is still open to rendition . However , conductor Mark Mylod has definitively explain the movie ’s ending ( viaDen of Geek ) . Though Slowik is out - manipulated by Margot , Mylod believe that Slowik was submissive and that he was n’t so much out - rig as he was outsmart , allowing himself to be mate . Mylod explained :
" He also realized that she ’s manipulating him but he allow her to win . All the unexpressed business is in the final discourse between them and the beefburger . "
Mylod note the surrealist 1962 movieThe Exterminating Angelas a big influence , which is separate in itself . The Exterminating Angelhas a exchangeable premise about a group of wealthy dinner node who are trapped at a dinner party , and it ’s a representation of the aristocracy in Francisco Franco ’s Spain . The director say of the profound movie :
" The sense of culpability of those dining compartment , which we endeavor to pervade the whole run of our film with , so there is a sense of almost a return to innocence from the buffet car by the ending of the piece . "
In that respect , Mylod sees Chef Slowik asThe Menu ’s angel . The fact that Mylod believes that he is unwrap as an angel is further proven when the theatre director excuse why Slowik kills the Edgar Albert Guest inThe Menu . The manager added :
“ From Chef Slowik ’s point of view , they ’re not stupefy their comeuppance , they ’re getting release , they ’re getting rebirth . ”
Chef Slowik might not be an backer , either figuratively or literally , but he surely trust he is . Either way , from Mylod ’s point of view , Slowik did n’t think he was doing anything wrong by burn up a 12 entitled reference alive atThe Menu ’s ending , but he also did n’t think he was killing them .
There Are Theories About Margot’s Actual Fate
Did Slowik Get Margot In The End?
Mark Mylod ’s view ofThe Menu ’s ending seems to confirm that Margot did encounter a way to beat Slowik and take to the woods . However , that has not quit some fans from bid their own dingy theories about her lot . The most popular theory that has come up is that Slowik poisoned Margot ’s cheeseburgerand she was doom to break as well after the credit roll . It ’s an interesting theory and has some cue to back it up .
During an early spell of the island , Elsa shows off their collection of aged beef while mentioning that if it was aged too much it would have bacteria and cause the diner to go . It is theorize then that Slowik used that beef to make the burger , find out a creative way to poison Margot .
There are problems with the possibility , though , mainly because it seems unlikely that Slowik would contrive this whole carte du jour and then come up with some random fashion of toss off Margot outside of his elaborated plan . However , it could be that Slowik understands Margot does n’t belong here and that he really felt unsound she did n’t enjoy the food . While that did n’t lead to mercy on his remainder , it made him require to give her one good repast before he died while earmark her not to buy the farm amongThe Menu ’s self - centered Edgar Albert Guest .
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Cast
A in darkness comedic horror - thriller , The Menu focuses on a grouping of diners invited to a gamey - end eating house on a private island by one of the world ’s greatest chefs . Shortly after arriving on the island , Margot Mills begin to realise something is strange beyond the perceived pontifical nature of the bill of fare . Her suspicion are confirmed when the night turn deadly as the restaurant staff begins to descend into a cult - like fury .
