Hawthorne House

‘The Menu’ and Its Twist Ending, Explained | Eater

"In Mark Mylod’s 2022 film The Menu, an exclusive island fine-dining restaurant run by chef Julian Slowik stages a grotesque, operatic finale in which diners are dressed in marshmallow suits, dusted with graham cracker crumbs and sauces, and asked to pour chocolate over themselves before the chef sets the room ablaze — a darkly theatrical revenge that transforms a tasting menu into human s’mores. The wealthy guests, who paid top dollar for the experience (the film references $1,000 dinners), largely accept their fate, embodying the movie’s critique of culinary elitism and privilege; one outsider, Margot, a sex worker, negotiates a cheeseburger, escapes with half of it in a doggy bag, and watches the restaurant burn while a final ominous clap hints at possible tampering with her survival snack. The director reworked the ending to be more operatic, using the spectacle both as shocking cinema and as a send-up of food snobbery." - Amy McCarthy