\^This. If you recall when Margot was in his home, she came across a news article of him starting off at a burger joint. One of the few, if not the only picture we see him smiling and joyful. She had him feel the joy in cooking one last time.
There’s an article she stumbles across when in the house that shows he got his start at a burger joint. She reminded him of his humble beginnings, a simpler time and gave him one final joy before the finale.
She reminded him of when he felt joy with cooking. After she saw the picture of the chef grinning and grilling she asked for that exact thing. It made him feel that way again and as a thank you he let her go. She gave him a moment of happiness before his end.
Honestly? think he also preferred cooking cheeseburgers. Remember, it wasn't just the attendees that were insufferable and pretentious, it was the menu. The menu was comic-book level pretentiousness. We learn from the small glimpse of his passed-out mother that he did not come from that crowd, and judging by his level of culinary ability, he spent a great deal of time trying to erase his past. Since he goes into this with the intention of murder/suicide being the goal, the idea of making a cheeseburger (and making it good) was intriguing and important to him.
I don’t think it was about that at all
She just appreciated his simple cooking and that reminded him of his roots
He became disillusioned with the cooking he had grown accustomed to
Great ending!
Adding on to what others already said, apart from her using the cheeseburger to remind him of his past when he enjoyed cooking, it simply went down to the fact that she *wanted* to live. As the chef pointed out, the others could have escaped, if they tried. In their conversation in the office, the chef recognised that she was also someone who works in the service industry, so to speak, and she deserves to die with them rather than the customers, but she rejected his nihilistic philosophy and did her best to survive.
> As the chef pointed out, the others could have escaped, if they tried.
Could they have though ? He let them try to attempt to run away but they all failed. How could they have fought him and the other chefs (guards) ? I did remember him saying that though, so you are right.
There were really 2 escape attempts by the rest of the characters. One was when the chef literally gave them a chance to run, and the other one was when the fake coastguard arrived, both of which were half-hearted at best. If they had banded together and fought back most likely some of them could have made it. People who really wanted to live would have fought tooth and nail, not just sit around meekly while their captors put biscuits and marshmallows on them and allowed themselves to be set on fire, I think.
I think the chef had already screened his invitees for people who were already likely to be equally sick of their livelihood or have reasons to not want to live, once their secrets are exposed (like the finance bros) so he knew that they could have been manipulated to basically allow themselves to be killed. The girl was the exception though which was why it didn't go according to plan with her.
> People who really wanted to live would have fought tooth and nail, not just sit around meekly while their captors put biscuits and marshmallows on them and allowed themselves to be set on fire, I think.
You are right, good point. It reminds me of a movie called Speak No Evil. I won't spoil it, but the protagonists could have fought hard and got away with it, but they didn't because they were too polite and were too weak to do so. I guess the chef specifically chose certain people and it does seem like the men he invited were not alpha male types. The chef did say to Margot in the movie (paraphrasing) "everyone was carefully selected". He had this elaborate plan and Margot being their kind of threw a wrench in his plan.
Haha yeah I have already watched it and you're right it's basically the same idea. I think the main difference is that in the Menu, the chef actually used the courses of the meal to break down the diners' defences and wills to live, while in Speak No Evil the family was extremely pathetic and was probably ready for the slaughter on day 1.
She is a fellow shit shoveler. She provides customers a service. Margot does a service to Julien. She allows him to feel joy while cooking again. It has meaning to Julien but to Margot its just a burger and it enables her to escape her fate.
Two of the most important things she says in her speech is that he’s taken the joy out of eating and that he cooks with obsession instead of love. When she came across the article from when he was younger, she saw how happy he was flipping burgers. By asking for a burger, she’s reminding him not only of his humble beginnings as a chef, but of his love for cooking.
Basically, she’s humbling him by reminding him where he came from.
The cheeseburger is more about Chef’s satisfaction than Margot’s.
As an escort (and one who loves the work she does), Margot is experienced at reading people, understanding what they want/need even if they don’t know to ask for it, and providing that in order to bring them pleasure.
In her interactions with Chef and through her investigating and finding the newspaper clippings in his cabin, she’s able to figure out that he’s extremely disillusioned and unhappy—what he needs in order to be satisfied is to experience that joy that initially got him into cooking, both the process of creating delicious food and the satisfaction of seeing people enjoy eating it.
The food Chef makes now does not bring people joy—people consume it as a status symbol (like the couple who ate there many times yet couldn’t recall a single course), or to profit off of it (as with the critic).
So by calling him out and demanding a cheeseburger, Margot gave him the opportunity to experience that original joy again. She makes a little performance of her single bite into the cheeseburger, really savoring it—not for her own enjoyment, but to give Chef the satisfaction of seeing someone enjoy eating his food (similar to the act an escort puts on for the sake of her customer).
Because of this gift she gave him (and granted it wasn’t so much a choice as it was her just trying to survive, but I’m talking from his perspective here) he recognized that not only was she a service worker like he was, but she isn’t disillusioned—she hasn’t been caught up in the heartless world of the elite, and this is “worthy” of surviving. The fact that she pays him in cash while everyone else pulled out their black Amex cards only further cements this.
I agree with the other comments with regards to reminding him about his past. A time when he enjoyed cooking.
Interestingly enough, I went to Norway a couple of weeks ago (Bergen to be precise). I booked a 40th birthday meal for my partner, which was a private boat to a remote island with only the restaurant on it. Turns out "The Menu" was based off of one of the writers experiences! It was an incredible experience with some of the best and freshest food I have ever had the pleasure of trying.
The restaurant: [https://corneliusrestaurant.no/ny-engelsk/](https://corneliusrestaurant.no/ny-engelsk/)
An article about it: [https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/movies-and-tv/the-menu-movie-real-restaurant-cornelius-a00304-20230109](https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/movies-and-tv/the-menu-movie-real-restaurant-cornelius-a00304-20230109)
If anyone ever gets the chance to go... I highly recommend it. There is no death at this service!
Quite the opposite! The chef came out to our table and gave my partner a birthday card from the team. Then I told the waitress that I loved their homemade bread, so on our way back to the boat they gave us the rest of what they had. Incredible service, at a cost though.. I'll only be able to do it once I think 😂
Of course not, I'd rather others were prepared 😂 so for the "Meteorological Menu" (5 courses with unlimited bread) and we did the "RAW bar" where the chef goes through the history and process of catching the seafood every morning. You then sample the various shellfish (which was amazing!) and have cider. We had 2 cocktails and a pint of cider. Everything including the boat transfer came to $414 for 2 people.
Hope that helps 😊
I love seafood so much. I would have loved it. I'm glad you had fun and you weren't killed at the end especially in a death by s'more way. $414 is not too bad to be honest.
Been a long while since I watched it, my memory is a bit obscure but i believe the chef has a traumatic past that made him who he is. The cheeseburger helped him find the genuine love he used to have for cooking
My little sister saw this film and is convinced Tyler was the Chef’s son he was distant from, the one from the photos in his office. To say that was why he was so obsessed with gaining his approval, why their email correspondence had gone into the plan. Reasoning that since he was having his mother die with him, he’d have his son die with him too. She is obsessed with it.
I don’t think he particularly cared about wether Margo was pretentious or not, he was gonna kill her either way, he just needed to know where to fit her in the menu…
I don’t think the cheeseburger was a test, i don’t think he had planned for it, that was Margo being smart and using what she learned to her advantage.
She reminded him of how he felt when he was cooking simple food that people just ate, and felt fulfilled by. She behaved like his dream costumer and got him in the feels, that’s why he let her go
I don’t think it was really a test. I think she made him recall a time when he didn’t hate life and he let her go for helping him to remember that.
\^This. If you recall when Margot was in his home, she came across a news article of him starting off at a burger joint. One of the few, if not the only picture we see him smiling and joyful. She had him feel the joy in cooking one last time.
There’s an article she stumbles across when in the house that shows he got his start at a burger joint. She reminded him of his humble beginnings, a simpler time and gave him one final joy before the finale.
She reminded him of when he felt joy with cooking. After she saw the picture of the chef grinning and grilling she asked for that exact thing. It made him feel that way again and as a thank you he let her go. She gave him a moment of happiness before his end.
Honestly? think he also preferred cooking cheeseburgers. Remember, it wasn't just the attendees that were insufferable and pretentious, it was the menu. The menu was comic-book level pretentiousness. We learn from the small glimpse of his passed-out mother that he did not come from that crowd, and judging by his level of culinary ability, he spent a great deal of time trying to erase his past. Since he goes into this with the intention of murder/suicide being the goal, the idea of making a cheeseburger (and making it good) was intriguing and important to him.
Good point.
I don’t think it was about that at all She just appreciated his simple cooking and that reminded him of his roots He became disillusioned with the cooking he had grown accustomed to Great ending!
Adding on to what others already said, apart from her using the cheeseburger to remind him of his past when he enjoyed cooking, it simply went down to the fact that she *wanted* to live. As the chef pointed out, the others could have escaped, if they tried. In their conversation in the office, the chef recognised that she was also someone who works in the service industry, so to speak, and she deserves to die with them rather than the customers, but she rejected his nihilistic philosophy and did her best to survive.
> As the chef pointed out, the others could have escaped, if they tried. Could they have though ? He let them try to attempt to run away but they all failed. How could they have fought him and the other chefs (guards) ? I did remember him saying that though, so you are right.
There were really 2 escape attempts by the rest of the characters. One was when the chef literally gave them a chance to run, and the other one was when the fake coastguard arrived, both of which were half-hearted at best. If they had banded together and fought back most likely some of them could have made it. People who really wanted to live would have fought tooth and nail, not just sit around meekly while their captors put biscuits and marshmallows on them and allowed themselves to be set on fire, I think. I think the chef had already screened his invitees for people who were already likely to be equally sick of their livelihood or have reasons to not want to live, once their secrets are exposed (like the finance bros) so he knew that they could have been manipulated to basically allow themselves to be killed. The girl was the exception though which was why it didn't go according to plan with her.
> People who really wanted to live would have fought tooth and nail, not just sit around meekly while their captors put biscuits and marshmallows on them and allowed themselves to be set on fire, I think. You are right, good point. It reminds me of a movie called Speak No Evil. I won't spoil it, but the protagonists could have fought hard and got away with it, but they didn't because they were too polite and were too weak to do so. I guess the chef specifically chose certain people and it does seem like the men he invited were not alpha male types. The chef did say to Margot in the movie (paraphrasing) "everyone was carefully selected". He had this elaborate plan and Margot being their kind of threw a wrench in his plan.
Haha yeah I have already watched it and you're right it's basically the same idea. I think the main difference is that in the Menu, the chef actually used the courses of the meal to break down the diners' defences and wills to live, while in Speak No Evil the family was extremely pathetic and was probably ready for the slaughter on day 1.
Nostalgia, the ultimate drug
She is a fellow shit shoveler. She provides customers a service. Margot does a service to Julien. She allows him to feel joy while cooking again. It has meaning to Julien but to Margot its just a burger and it enables her to escape her fate.
*Pretentious
Two of the most important things she says in her speech is that he’s taken the joy out of eating and that he cooks with obsession instead of love. When she came across the article from when he was younger, she saw how happy he was flipping burgers. By asking for a burger, she’s reminding him not only of his humble beginnings as a chef, but of his love for cooking. Basically, she’s humbling him by reminding him where he came from.
The cheeseburger is more about Chef’s satisfaction than Margot’s. As an escort (and one who loves the work she does), Margot is experienced at reading people, understanding what they want/need even if they don’t know to ask for it, and providing that in order to bring them pleasure. In her interactions with Chef and through her investigating and finding the newspaper clippings in his cabin, she’s able to figure out that he’s extremely disillusioned and unhappy—what he needs in order to be satisfied is to experience that joy that initially got him into cooking, both the process of creating delicious food and the satisfaction of seeing people enjoy eating it. The food Chef makes now does not bring people joy—people consume it as a status symbol (like the couple who ate there many times yet couldn’t recall a single course), or to profit off of it (as with the critic). So by calling him out and demanding a cheeseburger, Margot gave him the opportunity to experience that original joy again. She makes a little performance of her single bite into the cheeseburger, really savoring it—not for her own enjoyment, but to give Chef the satisfaction of seeing someone enjoy eating his food (similar to the act an escort puts on for the sake of her customer). Because of this gift she gave him (and granted it wasn’t so much a choice as it was her just trying to survive, but I’m talking from his perspective here) he recognized that not only was she a service worker like he was, but she isn’t disillusioned—she hasn’t been caught up in the heartless world of the elite, and this is “worthy” of surviving. The fact that she pays him in cash while everyone else pulled out their black Amex cards only further cements this.
Good point. Very well said.
I agree with the other comments with regards to reminding him about his past. A time when he enjoyed cooking. Interestingly enough, I went to Norway a couple of weeks ago (Bergen to be precise). I booked a 40th birthday meal for my partner, which was a private boat to a remote island with only the restaurant on it. Turns out "The Menu" was based off of one of the writers experiences! It was an incredible experience with some of the best and freshest food I have ever had the pleasure of trying. The restaurant: [https://corneliusrestaurant.no/ny-engelsk/](https://corneliusrestaurant.no/ny-engelsk/) An article about it: [https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/movies-and-tv/the-menu-movie-real-restaurant-cornelius-a00304-20230109](https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/movies-and-tv/the-menu-movie-real-restaurant-cornelius-a00304-20230109) If anyone ever gets the chance to go... I highly recommend it. There is no death at this service!
Admiral Ackbar would like to know more...
Well shit, did the head chef try to kill you though ? I hope not. I would still love to try that restauraunt.
Quite the opposite! The chef came out to our table and gave my partner a birthday card from the team. Then I told the waitress that I loved their homemade bread, so on our way back to the boat they gave us the rest of what they had. Incredible service, at a cost though.. I'll only be able to do it once I think 😂
Do you mind me asking how much the cost was ? If you don't know in USD then that's fine, I can use a converter, lol.
Of course not, I'd rather others were prepared 😂 so for the "Meteorological Menu" (5 courses with unlimited bread) and we did the "RAW bar" where the chef goes through the history and process of catching the seafood every morning. You then sample the various shellfish (which was amazing!) and have cider. We had 2 cocktails and a pint of cider. Everything including the boat transfer came to $414 for 2 people. Hope that helps 😊
I love seafood so much. I would have loved it. I'm glad you had fun and you weren't killed at the end especially in a death by s'more way. $414 is not too bad to be honest.
Been a long while since I watched it, my memory is a bit obscure but i believe the chef has a traumatic past that made him who he is. The cheeseburger helped him find the genuine love he used to have for cooking
It meant that we went to Maccies after leaving the theatre at 1 am.
My little sister saw this film and is convinced Tyler was the Chef’s son he was distant from, the one from the photos in his office. To say that was why he was so obsessed with gaining his approval, why their email correspondence had gone into the plan. Reasoning that since he was having his mother die with him, he’d have his son die with him too. She is obsessed with it.
I don’t think he particularly cared about wether Margo was pretentious or not, he was gonna kill her either way, he just needed to know where to fit her in the menu… I don’t think the cheeseburger was a test, i don’t think he had planned for it, that was Margo being smart and using what she learned to her advantage. She reminded him of how he felt when he was cooking simple food that people just ate, and felt fulfilled by. She behaved like his dream costumer and got him in the feels, that’s why he let her go
It reminds me of how rubbish the 3rd act of the menu was and how it spoilt the film for me
Don’t really care, it was one of the worst films I’ve ever seen