'The Menu' Ending Explained: Cheeseburger in Paradise

One of my favorite recent thrillers was The Menu, a darkly comedic and exciting movie about having the best and last dinner of your life. It also had a pretty clever ending that will leave you talking about it and thinking about it for a long time. Today, I want to go over The Menu's ending, its plot, and some of the themes it raises. Let's dig in. The Menu PlotThe movie opens on a dock waiting for a boat. We meet Tyler, a foodie obsessed with Hawthorn, an exclusive restaurant located on an island run by Chef Slowik.Tyler is telling all of this to his date, Margot, who is a bit more skeptical of the whole experience. They join a group of wealthy and pretentious guests on the boat and set off for a multi-course tasting menu.Once on the island, the Hawthorn workers display some unnerving cult-like attitude. It creeps Margot out but she's there so she tries to relax, even if she thinks all the pomp and circumstance is a little annoying. As the night and the meal progresses, Chef Slowik's menu takes a dark turn. Each course is accompanied by increasingly unsettling monologues from the chef. We find out his disdain for the guests and for the world and dining in general. By the time we get to the third course, the diners' past sins are printed on tortillas, and then in course four, a server kills himself to prove his loyalty. Things spiral from there as guests have to reveal secrets to one another about embezzling funds, cheating, and other transgressions. Slowik explains that each guest there is responsible for him losing his passion for cooking and therefore is going to die with him there tonight. Unfortunately for Margot, she's there by accident. We learn Margot is actually a call girl who Tyler brought because he got dumped. Margot also seems like the only person who sort of understands Chef Slowik, who is not enjoying his work anymore. All of the courses force introspection so much so, that Tyler winds up hanging himself. When dessert finally rolls around, Slowik sends Margot to his quarters to get a barrel he needs. While in there, she sees a picture of him smiling after winning employee of the month at a burger shop. When she gets back and the chef asks if she is satisfied with the meal, she declines and says she's still hungry. She asks him for a cheeseburger and fries. This request seems to reignite something in Chef Slowik, like the old flame he used to feel for cooking. He whips her up a burger and takes joy in preparing her meal. After taking a bite, Margot compliments the burger and then requests it "to go." This totally changed Slowik's attitude and he says that's fine and gives her a bag. Margot escapes on a Coast Guard boat while Chef Slowik and the remaining guests and staff meet a fiery end as he burns the restaurant down around them. We end with Margot eating her burger and watching the place burn from afar. The Menu Ending ExplainedSo, what did all this mean in the end? This is a movie about passion for work and how artists can come to resent the patrons who allow them to work. Margot represents someone innocent at the center, who cracks Slowik's code of just wanting to enjoy making food for people again. Her request for a cheeseburger reminds him of the joy and satisfaction of creating a classic, well-made dish for someone who is eating because they're hungry, and not for any other reason. Margot's authenticity and her ability to see through the facade of the fine dining world earn her Slowik's respect and also allows her to live at the end. He gives her back her life because she gives him back his joy. At the very end of the movie, all the guests who die are basically turned into human s'mores. It's a final act of rebellion against these fine diners. It rails against pretentiousness and the elitist nature of these people. Summing Up The Menu's Ending Like any great movie, the ending of The Menu is open to interpretation. Still, it leaves the audience with a sense of catharsis, like you'd feel after having a great dinner out on the town. Albeit, that dinner could cost you your life if you're involved in class disparity or other misdeeds. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Feb 13, 2025 - 22:30

'The Menu' Ending Explained: Cheeseburger in Paradise

One of my favorite recent thrillers was The Menu, a darkly comedic and exciting movie about having the best and last dinner of your life.

It also had a pretty clever ending that will leave you talking about it and thinking about it for a long time.

Today, I want to go over The Menu's ending, its plot, and some of the themes it raises.

Let's dig in.

The Menu Plot

The movie opens on a dock waiting for a boat. We meet Tyler, a foodie obsessed with Hawthorn, an exclusive restaurant located on an island run by Chef Slowik.

Tyler is telling all of this to his date, Margot, who is a bit more skeptical of the whole experience. They join a group of wealthy and pretentious guests on the boat and set off for a multi-course tasting menu.

Once on the island, the Hawthorn workers display some unnerving cult-like attitude. It creeps Margot out but she's there so she tries to relax, even if she thinks all the pomp and circumstance is a little annoying.

As the night and the meal progresses, Chef Slowik's menu takes a dark turn. Each course is accompanied by increasingly unsettling monologues from the chef. We find out his disdain for the guests and for the world and dining in general.

By the time we get to the third course, the diners' past sins are printed on tortillas, and then in course four, a server kills himself to prove his loyalty.

Things spiral from there as guests have to reveal secrets to one another about embezzling funds, cheating, and other transgressions. Slowik explains that each guest there is responsible for him losing his passion for cooking and therefore is going to die with him there tonight.

Unfortunately for Margot, she's there by accident. We learn Margot is actually a call girl who Tyler brought because he got dumped.

Margot also seems like the only person who sort of understands Chef Slowik, who is not enjoying his work anymore.

All of the courses force introspection so much so, that Tyler winds up hanging himself.

When dessert finally rolls around, Slowik sends Margot to his quarters to get a barrel he needs.

While in there, she sees a picture of him smiling after winning employee of the month at a burger shop.

When she gets back and the chef asks if she is satisfied with the meal, she declines and says she's still hungry. She asks him for a cheeseburger and fries.

This request seems to reignite something in Chef Slowik, like the old flame he used to feel for cooking.

He whips her up a burger and takes joy in preparing her meal. After taking a bite, Margot compliments the burger and then requests it "to go."

This totally changed Slowik's attitude and he says that's fine and gives her a bag.

Margot escapes on a Coast Guard boat while Chef Slowik and the remaining guests and staff meet a fiery end as he burns the restaurant down around them.

We end with Margot eating her burger and watching the place burn from afar.

The Menu Ending Explained

So, what did all this mean in the end? This is a movie about passion for work and how artists can come to resent the patrons who allow them to work.

Margot represents someone innocent at the center, who cracks Slowik's code of just wanting to enjoy making food for people again.

Her request for a cheeseburger reminds him of the joy and satisfaction of creating a classic, well-made dish for someone who is eating because they're hungry, and not for any other reason.

Margot's authenticity and her ability to see through the facade of the fine dining world earn her Slowik's respect and also allows her to live at the end.

He gives her back her life because she gives him back his joy.

At the very end of the movie, all the guests who die are basically turned into human s'mores. It's a final act of rebellion against these fine diners. It rails against pretentiousness and the elitist nature of these people.

Summing Up The Menu's Ending

Like any great movie, the ending of The Menu is open to interpretation. Still, it leaves the audience with a sense of catharsis, like you'd feel after having a great dinner out on the town.

Albeit, that dinner could cost you your life if you're involved in class disparity or other misdeeds.

Let me know what you think in the comments.