The MenuEnding Explained: How Did Margot Survive Chef Slowik's Final Course — and What Was the Point of That Cheeseburger?

Mar. 15, 2025

Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy in ‘The Menu.'.Photo:© 2022 20th Century Studios

© 2022 20th Century Studios

The food is to die for inThe Menu.

By the time the movie concludes, there are more questions than answers, like why Slowik organized the event and what the meaning behind the cheeseburger is.

So how didThe Menuend? Here’s everything to know about the film’s final minutes, including what the director was trying to evoke with the work.

Warning:The Menuspoilers ahead!

What happened at the end ofThe Menu?

After Margot and Tyler arrive on Slowik’s island, maître d’ Elsa (Hong Chau)notes that Margot wasn’t Tyler’s original date when he RSVP’ed for the dinner. Although it seems like a small detail at first, it later becomes apparent that the switch-up throws Slowik and his cooking staff for a loop.

When Tyler eventually reveals he hired Margot (a high-end escort whose real name is Erin) to be his plus one, and he knew of Slowik’s plans to kill his guests beforehand, Margot and Slowik are both upset.

Simultaneously, Margot is asked to fetch an empty barrel from the smokehouse for the dessert course. While wandering the grounds alone, she comes across Slowik’s house and uses a radio to call for help. Margot then returns to the restaurant with the barrel and waits for rescuers to arrive.

Within minutes, a boat pulls up to the island, and a man dressed as the Coast Guard enters the restaurant. The guests let out a sigh of relief and plead for help — only to learn that he is part of Slowik’s staff.

Ralph Fiennes and Hong Chau in ‘The Menu’ (2022).Eric Zachanowich / ©Searchlight Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

Eric Zachanowich / ©Searchlight Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

After one bite, she asks for a to-go sack and produces a $10 bill. Slowik allows her to leave the restaurant — with her cheeseburger — and Margot departs the island on a boat.

As she rides away, Slowik prepares one final course. All theguests are fitted with marshmallow capesand chocolate hats as the chef’s staff covers the floor with crushed graham crackers and various sauces.

As his last act, Slowik lights the restaurant on fire, and everyone, including himself, is engulfed in flames.

Why did Slowik kill everyone inThe Menu?

Judith Light, Reed Birney, Paul Adelstein, Janet McTeer, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, John Leguizamo, Aimee Carrero, Rob Yang, Arturo Castro, Mark St. Cyr in ‘The Menu’ (2022).Eric Zachanowich / © Searchlight Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

Eric Zachanowich / © Searchlight Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

Speaking to theDen of Geekin November 2022, director Mylod revealed that Slowik wanted to rid the elite he’d served for decades of their sins, including fraud, greed and infidelity.

“From Chef Slowik’s point of view, they’re not getting their comeuppance, they’re getting liberation, they’re getting rebirth,” he said.

Mylod added, “The absolute futility of escape coupled with the journey they’ve been on, the combination of those two elements is just taking them to a place of absolute naked submission.”

In an interview withThe Wrapthat same month, he also explained that he wantedThe Menuto have a “cinematic” ending.

“I started working with an image that was stuck in my head from the opening titles, which is a beautiful top shot [of] a deconstructed dessert in Grant Achatz’s restaurant Alinea in Chicago,” Mylod said. “The dessert is spread out and smashed and smushed in this very artistic fashion over the entire tabletop.”

He continued, “I started to think, ‘Okay, what if we did that over the entire restaurant?’ It was actually really tricky, but I loved the result, and it felt like a truly unique ending to the film. I’m really proud of that.”

Why did Margot survive inThe Menu?

As viewers learn, Margot was never supposed to be on the island — and Slowik spends the majority of the film trying to figure out what to do with his surprise participant. He is transparent with her and gives her the option to be part of the guests or staff, though she’s grouped with the former.

“This menu, this guest list, this entire evening has been painstakingly planned, and you were not a part of that plan. And it’s spoiling everything,” the chef says to Margot between courses.

He continues, “In order to proceed, I need to know where to seat you — with us or with them. We’re all going to die tonight. Do you want to die with those who give or those who take?”

Margot ultimately survives the horrors of the evening because she is unlike the other wealthy, food-obsessed clientele, nor does she succumb to Slowik’s power. Instead, she challenges the chef to make a simple dish, earning his respect and igniting his love for cooking again.

“From the very start, she was always going to outwit him,” Mylod told The Wrap. “It was always the case that she would get out, and that she would use her intuition and empathy [to do so].”

Why did Margot eat the cheeseburger at the end ofThe Menu?

Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes in ‘The Menu’ (2022).Eric Zachanowich / ©Searchlight Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

In the final scene, Margot stops the boat once she’s safely away from the island and takes out the cheeseburger Slowik made for her. She savors the meal and watches the restaurant burn.

The emphasis on the cheeseburger in the final minutes ofThe Menuhad fans theorizing that Slowik let Margot go because he set her up to die from eating the meat. The basis of this theory refers back to something maître d' Elsa told the guests early on in the movie.

“We use the meat from dairy cows only, which we age for an astonishing 152 days. [On the 153rd day], I suppose the bacteria would introduce itself to the consumer’s bloodstream and spread into their spinal membranes, after which point he or she would become incapacitated and shortly thereafter expire,” she said.

But Mylod dispelled those rumors during an interview with Den of Geek.

“It’s a victory bite. It’s a f— you, I beat you!” he explained.

source: people.com