'The Menu' Ending Explained: Did Chef Slowik actually KILL Margot? Here's what you need to know
Spoilers for 'The Menu'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In the long-line tradition of movie releases, there comes a time when a movie gets released and takes us by storm. These movies would leave a lingering indelible impression. One such recent movie that mesmerized us by surprise and earned praise from both critics and audiences alike is Mark Mylod's 'The Menu'. This movie features Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy as the primary pillars of the movie. Fiennes plays a celebrity chef named Julia Slowik, who invites a very exclusive set group to a private island to try out his new menu. The group primarily consists of the bigger names from bigger industries. Taylor-Joy plays the unintended guest on the island named Margot.
However, things take a turn when the chef starts to unravel his deadly ulterior motive to his distinguished guests. But at the cathartic end of the movie, there is one moment that could redefine this entire movie, when Margot eats her cheeseburger off a boat. Before delving into the theory, let's quickly recap the events that led to the extravagant climax in 'The Menu'. As soon as the exclusive guests arrive at the island, each course on the menu is a creative way for the celebrity chef, played by Fiennes, way to get payback from the guests who either hugely benefits from the artisans like him and his team or made him lose his passion for his craft. But when Margot stumps the chef by ordering a humble request of cheeseburger and fries to go, a sharp idea she gets after witnessing Slowik's younger picture, the chef lets her leave the island.
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Did Chef Slowik actually kill Margot in the end?
However, the recent, rather darker theory suggests that Chef Slowik would have killed Margot as well. During the confrontation before, the chef gave Margot the choice of choosing sides between the chef and the guest and Margot chose the former. The intent has been perfectly clear for the chef to kill everyone in attendance on the island. And it only ties up the perfectly curated menu of Slowik.
How Chef Slowik could have killed Margot?
But the question arises as to how the chef would have done the deed. Though Slowik enjoys immensely making the order for Margot, the information that Elsa (played by Hong Chau) had described during the film, regarding the ageing of the meat comes in to defend this theory. Elsa, while at Hawthorn's smokehouse, explains how they age the meat of Dairy cows for an exact 152 days. And when asked what would happen if they eat that meat on the 153 days, she replies that she supposes the bacteria from the meat will be introduced to the consumer's bloodstream and spread through their spinal membranes, after which point, he or she would become incapacitated and shortly thereafter expire.
This grim theory actually gives an additional layer of darkness to the ending of the film. If Fiennes had really used the expired meat to feed Margot, she would possibly die. And this also would explain and give a different interpretation as to why the chef let her out of the island unharmed in his portentous plan. The cast of the movie also includes Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, John Leguizamo, Reed Birney, Judith Light, Paul Adelstein, Aimee Carrero, Arturo Castro, Rob Yang, and more.
'The Menu' is currently available for streaming on HBO Max.