Question about The Menu ending

Submitted by RollingKatamari t3_10p41be in movies

Slowick makes Margot/Erin the best damn cheeseburger ever, seriously even as a vegetarian, that looked amazing. I loved even the detail of it being served on a paper plate!

(But...why would Slowik even have the ingredients like a burger bun and American cheese? That just doesn't fit in with the rest of the high end fresh ingredients?) Edit: already answered in comments, thank you!

Also, earlier in the film when they are in the smokehouse the finance bros ask Elsa what would happen if they served the meat after the precise amount of days and Elsa says they would die.....is it in any way possible that Slowik served Margot/Erin this meat? So she would think she'd get away but end up dead anyway?

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Select_Action_6065 t1_j6iacg2 wrote

Slowik would never serve someone tainted food. If he wanted to kill her he wouldn’t have let her leave.

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omnilynx t1_j6ihc02 wrote

Yeah, it's crazy how many people missed the theme/point of the movie. Slowik didn't just enjoy killing people for no reason. He was obsessed with the idea of turning all the people who'd made his life hell into his magnum opus. He had no reason to kill Erin. She was the one person there who made him genuinely happy, and who had done nothing to deserve to be there.

That dramatic beat at the end of the movie wasn't there to hint at another twist, it was to convey the transformation that Erin had gone through.

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SuperZapper_Recharge t1_j6izx6x wrote

He was a monster but a principled one.

He was really struggling with her presence the entire movie. She brought him joy in cooking - which is what he was punishing everyone else for.

That cheeseburger was the real deal. She's fine.

And it probably was the cheeseburger that reminded her of what it was like to eat her first cheeseburger.

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Cazmonster t1_j6m0kjd wrote

Yep Slowic was definitely Lawful Evil. If he killed you, he had a defensible reason to do so.

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staedtler2018 t1_j6k27o7 wrote

>Slowik didn't just enjoy killing people for no reason.

I mean... he kinda did.

Killing someone because they went to Brown with no financial aid is.. funny, certainly, but there's no real principle to it.

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Ashamed_Ladder6161 t1_j6ijn3j wrote

You say this, and I get your point, but I think it’s meant to be a point of contention; the foreshadowing for the bad meat is NOT subtle, and the pay off is how she chokes on it the while on the boat in the closing seconds. It’s there to make you doubt what’s happening. Personally, I find it unlikely that he’d kill her that way, I think the director has said so himself, but the film is posing that question. It’s being impish.

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omnilynx t1_j6iko3q wrote

The foreshadowing on the bad meat is to show how morbid the staff are and how close to death the customers are without knowing it. It doesn't need a physical payoff where it's used to kill someone.

Also, as someone else pointed out, you would never use aged meat for a classic hamburger. The difference in taste would be immediately apparent.

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NoHandBananaNo t1_j6k0801 wrote

>how morbid the staff are and how close to death the customers are without knowing it

Also how there is a relationship of inherent trust between customers and chefs insofar as customers trust chefs to be safe and not poison them.

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Ashamed_Ladder6161 t1_j6ikxij wrote

It’s Chekhov’s gun. Don’t show the ingredients can be deadly if you don’t intend to flirt with it. I think they’re plenty of ways you can illustrate that same point, not that you need to, the film already established this without needing it… also, the film closes on her having a coughing fit. That’s not an accident. Lol

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omnilynx t1_j6inq1x wrote

A "coughing fit"? You need to watch the ending again. I can't even find a moment where she chokes or coughs, let alone a whole fit. She sits down, panting (from exertion and adrenaline), gasps at the explosion, gets out the burger, takes a bite, wipes her mouth with the menu, takes a second bite, and a clap signals the cut to credits.

Anyway, this is moot because the director said the fan theory was wrong. Margot survives.

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Ashamed_Ladder6161 t1_j6iofqn wrote

Ok 2 things; first, I think she lives as well, and I’ve even said the director said as much earlier. But I did think she had a cough at the end of the film- but I’m more than happy to admit I’m wrong on this if that’s not the case. There’s 0 chance I’m sitting through any of that again.

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omnilynx t1_j6itbe9 wrote

I mean, "death of the author" and all that, you're welcome to interpret the movie any way you'd like. But you can't build a convincing case by saying that the director must have intended foreshadowing when they explicitly said they didn't.

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Ashamed_Ladder6161 t1_j6jifa4 wrote

He never said he didn’t intend that from what I recall, but I’m clearly far from the only one who saw that as a clumsy piece of foreshadowing. Having already accepted I remember the end of the film wrongly, I’m not quite sure why that got downvoted since much.

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RollingKatamari OP t1_j6ickt5 wrote

Good point! I just thought it odd they mentioned it but then it wasn't a plot point

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cannabiscarpetbagger t1_j6iifh5 wrote

I think it was there for humor and as one of the first hints that something is a bit off about the workers and the restaurant.

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kirblar t1_j6i56x7 wrote

The best suggestion from the discussion thread- months back- the cooks' pantry. Those are definitely items they'd have on hand for their own meals.

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RollingKatamari OP t1_j6i5cig wrote

That does make sense! I doubt they would eat the high end ingredients themselves all the time!

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ManOutOfTime3000 t1_j6izuj0 wrote

Wtf are you on about? Why does it matter? They have it to have it. They said they had everything.

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retroracer33 t1_j6iiosw wrote

The only questionable thing to me is the American cheese. I cant ever see a chef like that using american cheese on anything but a cheeseburger.

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Worthyness t1_j6imuqg wrote

It's actually a really fantastic cheese to use for cheese sauces in a pinch because American cheese is made with sodium citrate, which emulsifies the cheeses together, so its perfect for something like macaroni and cheese or a mornay sauce. Granted a restaurant of their caliber might straight up have sodium citrate.

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allthenights t1_j6irm0j wrote

they said that they had everything during Tyler’s trial, so I think that’s why they had the cheese. Plus American cheese is still a common ingredient in sauces and those things

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Jackie_Paper t1_j6iyb3c wrote

Holeman & Finch, serving arguably the best burger available in Atlanta, uses American cheese. Chef Linton Hopkins is pretty dogmatic about this.

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fonduktoe t1_j6ik6i9 wrote

Not this stupid theory again. The lady's explanation in the smokehouse was a tad hyperbolic for narrative effect. There is no meat that becomes a deadly poison because it's aged 1 day more. I also don't think it is in Chef's character at all to serve tainted meat especially in a burger (the nostalgia in his eyes as he cooked it showed he was proud of it).

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SuperZapper_Recharge t1_j6j07gc wrote

That lady said things for the effect of it. Not only isn't it true 'out of the movie for us' but it wasn't true in the movie either. She was playing the part of the entertainer. She was asked a question with a boring answer, she made the answer melodramatic. Isn't her fault if some damned fool runs with it after the show.

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Awkward_Panda1 t1_j6i7qsm wrote

If you saw Erin in his office she saw that he used to be a a world class burger chef, so I'm guessing he always has those ingredients to hand

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RedmannBarry t1_j6iaepa wrote

Lol I don’t think he was a world class burger chef, I think the picture more represented his days when cooking actually brought him joy and accomplishment. He was proud of making that burger when he was young. No doubt it was good, but don’t think he won awards for it

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SemenMoustache t1_j6il7rp wrote

Hahah indeed. Looked like a fast food place. And he was lovin' it.

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dowaller66 t1_j6ii7sz wrote

Only an Employee of the Month award, which he treasured.

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BravoEchoEchoRomeo t1_j6iycqb wrote

"World class burger chef" bro he was employee of the month at a greasy spoon lmao

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leejtam t1_j6i6xma wrote

its not surprising if they would have everything even if they dont cook it for the guests

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ManOutOfTime3000 t1_j6izklh wrote

If she died anyway it would defeat the purpose of the message and theme. She got to live because she wants one of those bad food enjoyers, or art enjoyers since food is a stand in for art in this movie.

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olgil75 t1_j6j5b0n wrote

It's a world class kitchen and the chef said they had everything, so that's the answer.

If you want more of an explanation than that, keep in mind that the restaurant had been up and running for a while, serving any number of diners any number of dishes. Plus, everyone who was living on the island would need a variety of food to eat themselves.

Any theorizing about why he had the ingredients other than "it's a kitchen and they have ingredients for food so people can eat" is nonsense.

As to your second question, the answer is No. She found a way to play his game and get out according to dining rules, plus she gave him back something he had lost: the joy of cooking. He never wanted or intended to kill her, so he was happy to find a loophole to let her leave.

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Shitty_Fat-tits t1_j6j81jy wrote

Vegetarian here too lol but you know I went straight to Red Robin after the movie to order an Impossible Cheeseburger!

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aalfo12 t1_j6iobhg wrote

I too am the type of whore who prefers a burger

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This_Cable_5849 t1_j6ka5wo wrote

Staff meal. Chefs cook for the restaurant employees before service. They probably had chickey fingers too

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xdirector7 t1_j6jap1r wrote

I think you are reading into the meat locker but a to much personally. She had a will to live constantly trying to find away out. She fought for her life against the woman see killed and looked for away to make a connection with the chef. The others did not they only cared about themselves even chef says to the others if they had actually tired a little they would have gotten away.

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Albertsongman t1_j6knb1q wrote

He might make the cheeseburger and fries in secret for himself.

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Bwills39 t1_j6meg5e wrote

To my knowledge many highly lauded chefs love American cheese in dishes. I’ve seen it on countless occasions

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MoMo_Hon3yD3w t1_j6j118m wrote

I didn’t particularly like the end. I loved the concept of the movie. I was thinking it was going to be a TOTALLY different movie. I thought it was great. But the ending just wasn’t what I was expecting how to end. It kinda just hit a wall and she end up leaving. Yes I understand she got to bring joy back to his cooking before s’more. But I guess what I’m saying is I was expecting the end to have more. To be held to the level of the beginning.

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SuperZapper_Recharge t1_j6j6pn6 wrote

The S'More thing.... they were too passive.

I feel like I am missing something I might understand on a rewatch.

He said to them, 'You should have fought back! You might have won!' and then they sat all passive for the S'more thing.

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Mikimao t1_j6jhbfy wrote

Because they, like him, all understood what they were signing up for and accepted it by the end.

On some level, they all hated themselves the way he hated himself, so it was sorta their admission to themselves he's right and they deserved it.

This is also in stark contrast to Erin, who truly did everything to make it out of there alive, she had a will to live none of them had.

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SuperZapper_Recharge t1_j6jj78q wrote

I am sure you are correct. The only other explanation I can think of runs contrary to what I think his character is - that he drugged them.

Mucking with food like that is below him. To him food is sacred. Besides, if he had drugged them we would have to talk about the taste of the drugs when he is encouraging people to savor the food.

So short of another idea, yeah, you got it.

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ArchDucky t1_j6jg5va wrote

The chef repeatedly said during the entire run of the film "we have everything".

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elmatador12 t1_j6k6p5y wrote

I loved the movie. But what confused me about the ending was that he seemingly let Erin go free because she’d done nothing wrong and didn’t belong there.

But was totally fine killing that girl who went to Brown with no student debt and didn’t have a reason to be killed like everyone else seemed to.

Was it because she made him happy about cooking? So he’s totally okay killing innocent people just not ones that make him happy?

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Bearable2-2 t1_j6lg7j4 wrote

A person who went to brown with no student debt couldn’t be innocent, is the point

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charleyismyhero t1_j6lgpwk wrote

Don’t think too deeply. It’s a movie. You think too deeply you start to think, hey, if that guy wanted to make burgers he could have closed his insufferable art joint and flipped burgers, but he chose to serve entitled twits instead. What the hell is he moaning about. See?

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RadSkeleton808 t1_j6j2pl9 wrote

There's a whole theory that it was planned for Margot/Erin to act as she did. Slowick deduced she was an escort immediately or even just from reservations. The photo was placed for her to discover in the same sense the radio was.

Ultimately he didn't know if she would actually ask him to make a burger just a hope that she would put two and two together in an attempt at her own self-preservation. He had the burger ingredients and the take out boxes brought to the island specifically as late as once the guest arrive.

Something also about a final test for Elsa who always wanted to enter the chef's living quarters but never was allowed, and now here this stranger is whose allowed to.

Idk in general I don't care for the theory because it removes the agency of Margot/Erin but it's an interesting thought.

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