End of ‘The Menu’ Explained: What Does the Cheeseburger Mean?

The public is going to devour ‘The menu’ at its premiere at Disney+ Spain, and everyone is going to be thinking about the cheeseburger.

The satirical comedy thriller is starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult as Margot and Tyler, a couple who head to a private island for a special evening at an upscale restaurant run by the enigmatic celebrity chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes).

But the exclusive dinner they’ve signed up for is not what it seems, and soon all the guests find themselves fighting for their lives. In the end, history leads us to that enigmatic cheeseburger that could be the key to survival.

However, if the ending left you wondering, we’re here. to dive into the various revelations of ‘The Menu’to explain the motives behind chef Julian Slowik’s murderous tricks and what that cheeseburger really means.

SPOILERS FROM HERE.

‘The Menu’ begins with Margot (Joy) and Tyler (Hoult) about to board a yacht that will take them to a private island where Julian Slowik’s restaurant is located.but they are not the only guests of this exclusive evening.

They are joined by food critic Lilian (Janet McTeer, Ozark) and her editor Ted (Paul Adelstein); the wealthy couple Richard (Reed Birney) and Anne (Judith Light); George (John Leguizamo), an old movie glory and his assistant Felicity (Aimee Carrero); and business partners Soren (Arturo Castro), Dave (Mark St Cyr) and Bryce (Rob Yang), along with the owner’s alcoholic mother (Rebecca Koon).

When they arrive, they are greeted by Elsa (Hong Chau), the restaurant’s maitre d’ and Julian’s right-hand woman., who notices that Margot is not on the guest list; we understand from her awkwardness that she is Tyler’s last minute date and they don’t know each other very well.

Elsa leads them on a tour before seating them in the restaurant, where each seat is specifically planned. Dinner begins: each course is introduced by Slowik’s long and increasingly bizarre monologue. The fourth plate is created by one of his sous chefs militants, who shoots himself in the head in front of the guests.

Slowik corners Margot in the ladies’ room and finds out her secret: It’s a sex worker named Erin who Tyler hired as his date for tonight.. The chef gives her the option of being grouped with the guests or with the staff; either way, she will die like the rest.

Meanwhile, the guests are served tortillas on which Slowik has printed his secrets: for example, the business colleagues are engaging in illegal business practices and find the fraudulent numbers in their food. Suspecting that something is up, Richard tries to escape, but his finger is cut off due to his insolence.

Slowik then drowns the restaurant’s main investor, then allows all the male guests to try to escape. As the restaurant workers catch them, the women stay in the restaurant and we learn that Erin/Margot had encounters with Richard where she wanted to live out a fantasy that his daughter had not died.

With all the men captured, the guests return to eat their next course and Slowik reveals that Tyler had been invited knowing that the night would end with everyone’s death., including that of your companion. Slowik humiliates him by making him cook and roundly criticizing his efforts; embarrassed, Tyler hangs himself.

Slowik decides that Erin/Margot is part of the staff, so he asks her to go get a keg, and while he’s out, she sneaks into his house where she is confronted by Elsa; they fight and Erin/Margot kills Elsa before continuing to sniff around.. In a secret room in Slowik’s house, he discovers a photo of the young chef as the leader of a fast food joint. He also finds a radio, which he uses to call the coast guard.

Erin/Margot returns with the barrel and the coast guard shows up, but he’s also one of Slowik’s staff, so he gets back to work. When she feels all hope is lost, suddenly Erin/Margot has an inspired plan.. The young woman begins to make fun of Slowik’s food and says that she is still hungry even after the carefully selected dishes of hers.

When he asks her what she would like to eat, she orders a cheeseburger and fries.

End of ‘The Menu’ Explained: What Does the Cheeseburger Mean?

Slowik prepares the burger to his exacting standards and delivers it to Erin/Margot himself. She takes a bite and then, saying that maybe her eyes were bigger than her stomach, she orders it to go. Delighted with her cunning, Slowik gives her a takeaway box and Margot leaves..

Margot uses the coast guard boat to escape while the restaurant prepares a dessert of s’mores: The floor is covered in crushed cookies, guests are given chocolate hats and marshmallow capes, and the restaurant burns down, killing them all.

Erin/Margot watches the fire roar from a safe spot in the water and eats the rest of the cheeseburger. We know we really want to eat a cheeseburger, but what does it really mean in the context of the movie?

It all goes back to why Slowik is killing his guests and himself (as well as his entire staff, who have bought into his deadly concept).

The guests in particular were chosen for their role in the chef’s own disillusionment with the kitchen, or those who make a name for themselves exploiting the work of artists.: the food critic and her editor because of their role in the world of food critics, the business friends because of their financial ties to the restaurant, the actor and his assistant because of a food show they are trying to launch, the older couple because of his inability to appreciate his food and Tyler for his obsession with social media.

The cheeseburger itself is symbolic of why Slowik started cooking and how he fell in love with cooking.. The simple act of preparing something for someone who appreciates it very much, without frills, without frills or complications. For another chef, the Proustian dish might be a bowl of ramen or a crepe; for another professional, it may be a simple sketch or a haiku.

Erin/Margot discovers the motivations behind Slowik’s plan before he reveals it himself, and as an outsider among the elite clientele, she is able to harness her lost passion and nostalgia and use it to her advantage. Some think Slowik poisoned the cheeseburger, which means Erin/Margot would die too.. However, director Mark Mylod disagrees with this dark fan theory about ‘The Menu’.

While there were alternate endings (such as Elsa’s return), Mylod described the final shot of Erin/Margot eating that burger as “a bite of victory, if you want. It’s a: fuck you, I won!”.

And that is exactly how we will see it.