History Film / TheMenu

--->'''Margot''': Come on, Chef, this night is all about hard truths, right? Here's one: you cook with ''obsession'', not love. Even your hot dishes are cold. You're a ''chef''. Your one purpose on this earth is to give people food they might enjoy, and you have ''failed''. You failed, and you bored me. And the worst part is... [[PrecisionFStrike I'm still fuckin' hungry.]]

* RunningGag: Tyler makes repeated references to a Pacojet (an extremely expensive piece of kitchen equipment used to puree frozen foods without unthawing them, which an amateur cook like Tyler should have no reason to have except to look posh), to the point where Slowik mockingly asks him during his [[spoiler:failed cooking attempt]] if he would like to use one. A Pacojet actually does appear [[spoiler:during Margot and Elsa's fight.]]

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The newspapers in Chef Julian's house give Margot the information she needs to survive the night, as they portray him when he was a young, obscure, but ultimately happy line cook at a burger joint. Margot invokes this by asking Julian to prepare her a cheeseburger, which touches him so much that he lets her go in the end.]]

** When he overhears Lillian complaining about the broken emulsion of one of the spreads on the "breadless bread plate", he has Elsa bring an ''entire bowl'' of that broken emulsion to her table. Twice.

** After spending the majority of the film being a condescending, uncaring, self-interested, and self-congratulatory waste of skin, [[spoiler:Tyler undergoes one. He's outed by Chef Slowik for knowing that everyone would die, but not only keeping quiet out of egregious personal interest but hiring a prostitute, Margot, to bring into the lion's den after his girlfriend dumped him--which is callous at best, an act of violence against a sex worker at worst--simply because Hawthorn doesn't seat single diners. He's nearly torn apart by an (understandably) enraged Margot. He is savagely humiliated by Chef Slowik when he's forced to improvise a dish and ends up serving an inedible mess, showing that for all his pretentious knowledge of haute cuisine, he doesn't have a clue how to actually cook a decent meal. Finally, Slowik whispers something in his ear that hammers the final nail in the coffin. After those incidents, Tyler is only a watery-eyed shell of a man who takes his own life in the back of the kitchen]].

** After spending the majority of the film being a condescending, uncaring, self-interested, and self-congratulatory waste of skin, [[spoiler:Tyler undergoes one. He's outed by Chef Slowik for knowing that everyone would die, but not only keeping quiet out of egregious personal interest but hiring a prostitute, Margot, to bring into the lion's den after his girlfriend dumped him--which is callous at best, an act of violence against a sex worker at worst--simply because Hawthorn doesn't seat single diners. He's nearly torn apart by an (understandably) enraged Margot. He is savagely humiliated by Chef Slowik when he's forced to improvise a dish, showing that for all his pretentious knowledge of haute cuisine, he doesn't have a clue how to actually cook a decent meal. Finally, Slowik whispers something in his ear that hammers the final nail in the coffin. After those incidents, Tyler is only a watery-eyed shell of a man who takes his own life in the back of the kitchen]].

** After spending the majority of the film being a condescending, uncaring, self-interested, and self-congratulatory waste of skin, [[spoiler:Tyler undergoes one. He's outed by Chef Slowik for knowing that everyone would die, but kept quiet out of egregious personal interest. He's nearly torn apart by an (understandably) enraged Margot. He is savagely humiliated by Chef Slowik when he's forced to improvise a dish, showing that for all his pretentious knowledge of haute cuisine, he doesn't have a clue how to actually cook a decent meal. Finally, Slowik whispers something in his ear that hammers the final nail in the coffin. After those incidents, Tyler is only a watery-eyed shell of a man who takes his own life in the back of the kitchen]].

** Chef Slowik tells Margot to fetch a barrel of an ingredient for the final course, saying that Elsa forgot to assign someone to do that. [[spoiler:Elsa, fearful that he's trying to replace her with Margot, attacks her with a knife in Julian's house, insisting to her last breath that she wasn't told about the barrel to begin with. It's unclear who is telling the truth.]]

The film follows Margot (Taylor-Joy) and Tyler (Hoult), a young couple traveling to a remote island to dine at Hawthorn, an exclusive restaurant with a menu specially curated by its enigmatic head chef, Julian (Fiennes). Naturally, all is not as it seems, as it soon becomes apparent that each guest has been carefully selected to witness Julian and his team of cooks put together what will be their final menu.

** Chef Julian tells Margot to fetch a barrel of an ingredient for the final course, saying that Elsa forgot to assign someone to do that. [[spoiler:Elsa, fearful that he's trying to replace her with Margot, attacks her with a knife in Julian's house, insisting to her last breath that she wasn't told about the barrel to begin with. It's unclear who is telling the truth.]]

** After spending the majority of the film being a condescending, uncaring, self-interested, and self-congratulatory waste of skin, [[spoiler:Tyler undergoes one. He's outed by Chef Julian for knowing that everyone would die, but kept quiet out of egregious personal interest. He's nearly torn apart by an (understandably) enraged Margot. He is savagely humiliated by Chef Julian when he's forced to improvise a dish, showing that for all his pretentious knowledge of haute cuisine, he doesn't have a clue how to actually cook a decent meal. Finally, Julian whispers something in his ear that hammers the final nail in the coffin. After those incidents, Tyler is only a watery-eyed shell of a man who takes his own life in the back of the kitchen]].
** Almost every one of the patrons has a degree of obnoxious superiority. [[spoiler:By the end, they are so broken and devoid of arrogance by Chef Julian's psychological and emotional torment that when they're about to be incinerated, they not only accept their fate, but some of them also thank Chef Julian for giving them what they "deserve".]]

The film follows Margot (Taylor-Joy) and Tyler (Hoult), a young couple traveling to a remote island to dine at Hawthorne, an exclusive restaurant with a menu specially curated by its enigmatic head chef, Julian (Fiennes). Naturally, all is not as it seems, as it soon becomes apparent that each guest has been carefully selected to witness Julian and his team of cooks put together what will be their final menu.

** While Julian's explanation for why he wants to punish and kill the Hawthorne guests is fairly clear, the film leaves a number of loose threads regarding whether there was a specific event (or events) that pushed him over the edge and convinced his kitchen staff to go along with it. [[spoiler:Katherine's description of Julian sexually harassing her, her claiming credit for the idea to kill everyone, and the picture of Julian's family in his sparse office all imply that ''something'' may have happened in the chef's personal life and/or that he is serving as something of a figurehead, but neither idea is further explored.]]

** Margot asks Elsa about what is behind a silver door in Hawthorne near the bathroom and is ominously told that it holds something "special". While Margot opens the replica of the door in Julian's home copy of the restaurant (it leads to his personal office), we never see what's behind the "real" door. This may be an [[invoked]]OrphanedReference to the original script's ending (see the Trivia page).
* ArcWords: "You shouldn't be here" from several members of the staff, including Chef Slowik himself, to Margot. At first, it implies that, because she's Tyler's replacement date, they were expecting the woman on the actual reservation, especially since she knows nothing about molecular gastronomy. [[spoiler:It's soon revealed that Margot has her own secrets, including relationships with the other diners, which make her a lot more similar to the staff of Hawthorne.]]
* AssholeVictim: The diners at Hawthorne are all wealthy and entitled people. [[spoiler:Except Margot, a working-class escort whose worst sin is being a tad caustic.]]

** [[spoiler:How Margot manages to escape Hawthorne. After discovering Slowik's only happy memory is being a line cook in a restaurant, she manages to play to his ego by stating nothing he made that night was "made with love", and convinces him to prepare, not anything fancy, but a basic cheeseburger. He eventually does so, and lets her leave with her order "to go" when she experiences true happiness at having something that Slowik actually enjoyed cooking for her. As such, she's the only member of the cast that survives to see the credits roll.]]

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Julian's issue with Richard and Anne is that even though they've dined at Hawthorne ''eleven'' times, they can't remember a single dish they've eaten. They're so privileged that they can semi-frequent a place normal people would be lucky to even visit once, and despite this fact (or, in fact, because of it), they have no actual appreciation for it whatsoever.

* {{Cult}}: Hawthorne operates an awful lot like one with Julian as their charismatic leader and figurehead. [[spoiler:They all live and work on an island isolated from the rest of society, but Julian has a private residence that no one else is allowed to enter while his employees are crammed together in a dormitory where the toilets are just a few feet away from the beds without even a partition for privacy. Despite this, they have absolute loyalty to Chef Julian to the point of planning and enacting the MurderSuicide plot.]]

* DisposableSexWorker: [[spoiler:Invoked in-universe. It's revealed that Margot isn't Tyler's girlfriend, but an escort he hired to bring along to Hawthorne despite knowing full well what Slowik had planned. Ultimately subverted, however, as Margot turns out to be the FinalGirl.]]

** [[spoiler:The entire dinner is an elaborate buildup for Chef Julian, deeply dissatisfied with the course of his life and career, to kill himself [[MurderSuicide along with everyone else still alive and present at Hawthorne.]] The rest of his kitchen staff willingly join him.]]

** In the middle of his rant against Doug Verrick, the corrupt "Angel Investor" who bankrolls Hawthorne, the angriest we see Julian in the entire film is at the fact that Verrick asked for ''substitutions''. This suggests that Verrick didn't actually believe in Julian's work or like his food, but just saw it as a business investment, which Julian did not appreciate.

** Upon receiving tortillas containing evidence of his wire fraud, Soren threatened to have Hawthorne's closed by the morning to which Elsa replies "That won't be necessary". [[spoiler:Julian and his staff have already planned to close the restaurant the very same night through fatal means.]]

** Tyler's DissonantSerenity in the face of all the chaos makes a lot more sense when we learn that [[spoiler:he was told ahead of time that no one was getting out of Hawthorne alive.]]

** Elsa mentions early on that the cooks never intentionally burn anything unless it's needed for the menu. [[spoiler:The film ends with ''everyone'' on Hawthorne Island being burned to death as the conclusion of the titular menu]].

* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: In one course, every male diner is released into the woods in order to be hunted down. Downplayed, however, as [[spoiler:they're not killed in the forest -- just brought back to Hawthorne. The "winner" even gets an extra dessert]].

* NotSoDifferentRemark: [[spoiler:Chef Slowik sees Margot, the working-girl escort that has been forced into this situation despite her date Tyler knowing he was bringing her along to die, as similar to all of the hard-working staff of Hawthorne that are forced to give up parts of themselves to provide temporary pleasure to the rich.]]

** The Hawthorne staff took the time to bake a birthday cake for one of the businessmen (although their words suggest that it isn't actually a birthday and it was just intended as a joke before things escalated).

** [[spoiler:Tyler knew going into the night's dinner that Chef Julian didn't plan on leaving any of them alive, and he brought an escort to go with him because Hawthorne doesn't allow single diners.]]

* SceneryPorn: Hawthorne is set on a beautiful island, and the camera lovingly captures its landscape.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: The three techbros consistently bring up their connection to Doug Verrick, Hawthorne's "angel investor," to try and get special treatment or threaten punishment against Slowick for their mistreatment. [[spoiler: This continues until they're ForcedToWatch as Verrick is drowned before their eyes.]]

** The dessert course is plated directly on the floor of the restaurant with artful swoops of sauce on the floor. The dessert course at the molecular gastronomy restaurant Alinea is also plated this way except directly on the table (plus the scene is almost a [[HomageShot shot-by-shot recreation]] of said restaurant's episode in the Netflix series ''Chef's Table''; ironically, Alinea's dish takes advantage of the cold, while Hawthorne [[spoiler:plates theirs for the intention of lighting everything on fire]]).

* SommelierSpeak: Hawthorne's resident sommelier plays this completely straight ... and continues to do so long after the dinner has derailed into chaos.

-->'''Chef Julian''': He would even request substitutions, despite the fact that there are ''NO SUBSTITUTIONS AT HAWTHORNE!!!''

* WhileRomeBurns: [[spoiler:At the very end of the movie, Margot watches Hawthorne burn in the distance ... Then takes another big bite of her cheeseburger.]] She's still hungry.
* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Margot is dumbfounded when she breaks into Julian's cabin and finds that it's designed to look exactly like the interior of Hawthorne (plus a bed in the dining area).

* LethalChef: Averted by definition (if not by name) with Chef Julian and the kitchen staff; they're lethal, but their food is excellent. [[spoiler:Played straight by Tyler, who despite his passion for food is useless in the kitchen. His undercooked lamb ''may'' very well have been lethal if the only person who ate it wasn't about to self-immolate anyway.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Painstakingly prepared. Brilliantly executed.]]

* StockholmSyndrome:
** Invoked. When Katherine seems to get emotional over the female guests eating her food and one saying she liked it, the rest of the women begin chiming in to say how delicious it is. [[spoiler:They also promptly lose interest in the food when Katherine reveals she is the one responsible for the decision to kill them at the end of the menu.]]
** [[spoiler:Played straight in the final scene, where the thoroughly exhausted, mentally broken diners shout their adoration for Slowik along with the rest of the staff right before they're immolated alive.]]

** The film aims food snobs and influencers. Tyler comes across as quite pretentious as he takes pictures of his food, goes on about mouthfeel, and gushes about the extremely private restaurant they are going to. [[spoiler:Once Chef Julian forces him to cook something himself, he fumbles completely and makes a dish aptly titled "Tyler's Bullshit", which is just a mess of leek, shallot, butter and undercooked lamb]].

* MomentOfSilence: [[spoiler:After Jeremy kills himself, Julian and the kitchen staff observe a brief one before serving Jeremy's dish "The Mess".]]
** Although this might not be so much as a sign of respect. They might be standing still so they do not enter the trajectory of the bullet.

** When Diaz wonders why Slowik is targeting his assistant Felicity, Slowik responds by asking her what college she went to (Brown) and whether she has any student debt (she doesn't), then flatly states that she's going to die. In other words, he targets her for murder simply for being born into privilege.
*** Although a bit more of a benign example, Felicity still nonetheless fits the theme of being a taker who offers nothing of value in return. She has a debt-free degree from an Ivy League school, and what did she do with it? She became a personal assistant to a washed up movie star. She attempts to quit for another job, but ''doesn't actually have any idea what that job entails or what its purpose serves''. She wants it because it sounds prestigious. And near the end of the menu, she blatantly admits that she was repeatedly stealing from George; they both were aware of what was happening and he just let her, which is a very stealthy TakeThat to society on its own. She had plenty of advantages but kept taking just because she knew she could.

* AffablyEvil: Felicity falls into this category, with George LeaningOnTheFourthWall for the audience by asking why she had to be included in the group. She is so charming, it's understandable you might overlook that she is not any different than the others. Felicity is the perfect example of the kind of person who does questionable or immoral things but gets a pass because she has a likeable personality and a pretty face.

* AffablyEvil: Felicity falls into this category, with George LeaningOnTheFourthWall for the audience by asking why she had to be included in the group. She is so charming and pleasant, it's understandable you might overlook that she is NotSoDifferent. Felicity is the perfect example of the kind of person who does questionable or immoral things but gets a pass because she has a likeable personality and a pretty face.

** The reason Julian invites George to dinner is because years ago, he spent one of his few days off watching a film of his that he didn't like. As George notes, he wasn't the one who wrote it, he just acted in it, but Julian associates his face with the movie, therefore he must die. (Although he also implies that the star's career decline, as indicated by his participation in such a bad movie, is something the chef fears for himself.)
** George's assistant gets it because Julian (who didn't even know her) decided on the spot that he didn't like that her family was wealthy enough for her to attend an Ivy League school as if that were ''her'' fault.
** In the middle of his rant against Doug Verrick, the corrupt "Angel Investor" who bankrolls Hawthorne, the angriest we see Julian in the entire film is at the fact that Verrick asked for ''substitutions''.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Of all the guests there, Slowik's reason for choosing George Diaz is the most deliciously petty - he watched George's movie ''Calling Dr. Sunshine'' on one of his rare days off, hated it and developed a rather virulent grudge over that.

* AtLeastIAdmitIt
--->'''Bryce:''' How’s Amanda?''\\
'''Dave:''' Well, not good, Bryce. Okay? Me and Amanda are not good. It’s not good.\\
'''Bryce:''' Are you at fault? ''\\
'''Dave:''' Are you at fault? No, it was her fault. She made me text her coworker. Yeah, fucking of course it’s my fault, bro. I’m an asshole. \\

* StockholmSyndrome: Invoked. When Katherine seems to get emotional over the female guests eating her food and one saying she liked it, the rest of the women begin chiming in to say how delicious it is. [[spoiler:They also promptly lose interest in the food when Katherine reveals she is the one responsible for the decision to kill them at the end of the menu.]]

** The film takes aim at food snobs and influencers. Tyler comes across as quite pretentious as he takes pictures of his food, goes on about mouthfeel, and gushes about the extremely private restaurant they are going to. [[spoiler:Once Chef Julian forces him to cook something himself, he fumbles completely and makes a dish aptly titled "Tyler's Bullshit", which is just a mess of leek, shallot, butter and undercooked lamb]].
** It also takes aim at the convoluted and showy world of modern fine dining, where the meal is so much of an experience that it doesn't actually provide anything of nutritional substance, let alone sate someone's appetite. [[spoiler:Which is how Margot feels up until the end, as, despite the events of the entire evening, she's still hungry.]]