‘The Menu’ Theories, Meaning, Explanation, and Themes

I’m going to be honest: I thought The Menu was way overy-hyped, over-marketed, and overrated.

Part of my trouble is believing that Anya Taylor-Joy — perhaps the most blue-blooded-looking actress in Hollywood — is this rough-and-tumble woman from the streets. It just didn’t land, like much of the rest of the movie for me.

BUT:

There was clearly an allegory here. In other words, the screenplay of The Menu had something to tell us. So I decided to dig in, despite my low opinion of the film.

Here’s my analysis of The Menu:

Screenshot from “The Menu” trailer.

Top Theories About the Meaning and Themes of ‘The Menu’ (2022)

1. The Death of Art Through Commodification

Theory: The film is a metaphor for how true artistry (in this case, cooking) dies when it’s consumed by elitism, capitalism, and performative audiences rather than genuine passion.

• Why It Fits:
  • Slowik begins as a young man making burgers with joy, but the culture of exclusivity, critics, investors, and obsessive fans turns his love for food into a hollow performance. The guests are archetypes of people who drained his craft: critics who nitpick, investors who control, celebrities who exploit, and sycophants like Tyler who worship without understanding. His decision to annihilate everyone, including himself, is a final “closing of the kitchen” on an artform corrupted by greed.
• Key Moments:
  • The tortilla course exposing the guests’ sins.
  • Tyler’s humiliating failure at cooking despite his obsession.
  • The final cheeseburger that rekindles Slowik’s lost joy.

2. Cults of Personality and the Danger of Devotion

Theory: The restaurant represents a cult, with Slowik as its charismatic leader who has absolute control over both staff and patrons. The evening’s structure mirrors a ritual sacrifice where followers willingly perish for their messiah’s vision.

• Why It Fits:
  • The staff is disturbingly loyal, participating in humiliations, violence, and even suicide without hesitation. The guests, though horrified, are paralyzed by reverence, fear, or social pressure. Tyler exemplifies blind devotion—he literally sacrifices Margot to be included and then kills himself when he fails to meet Slowik’s standards. This suggests a critique of celebrity worship and the surrender of individuality to “genius” figures.
• Key Moments:
  • Sous-chef Jeremy’s suicide framed as “art.”
  • The staff catching the male guests during their “escape” game.
  • Tyler’s suicide after failing his “test” from the master.

3. Class Warfare and Cannibalistic Elitism

Theory: The dinner is a symbolic class reckoning: the wealthy are literally “consumed” by the world of fine dining they exploit, with their privilege and money powerless to save them.

• Why It Fits:
  • Each guest profits from or indulges in systems that exploit the labor of others—critics, investors, actors, and businessmen feeding off artistry. Slowik weaponizes food as the vehicle of their destruction, turning the meal into a grotesque inversion of luxury: instead of consuming, the elites become the meal. Margot/Erin, an outsider who works for survival rather than privilege, escapes because she rejects the elitism and appeals to Slowik’s buried humanity.
• Key Moments:
  • Richard’s finger amputation showing wealth offers no protection.
  • The angel investor drowned like an ingredient being discarded.
  • Margot’s escape after ordering the most “working-class” food.

4. Authenticity vs. Performance in Human Connection

Theory: The film explores how authentic experiences and relationships are buried under pretense, with food serving as the metaphor. Margot survives because she alone insists on authenticity.

• Why It Fits:
  • Every guest is fake in some way: Richard roleplays father-daughter fantasies, the critic inflates meaningless flaws, the actor relies on a façade of relevance, and Tyler constructs his identity around pretension. Margot reveals her real self (an escort) and directly calls out Slowik’s loveless food, piercing through the façade. By asking for a simple cheeseburger—honest, unpretentious, and pleasurable—she offers Slowik the one genuine human exchange of the night. 
• Key Moments:
  • Margot’s bluntness when confronting Slowik in the kitchen.
  • Her discovery of his diner photo showing true happiness.
  • Her parting act of eating the cheeseburger and wiping her mouth with the menu, rejecting the performance entirely.

5. The Futility of Escape and the Illusion of Choice

Theory: The film suggests that within systems of power and control, escape is impossible—except through dismantling the system entirely or rejecting it outright.

• Why It Fits:
  • The guests are given chances to leave (the men’s “game,” the Coast Guard’s arrival), but each escape is staged or futile, reinforcing their helplessness. Even Margot’s survival isn’t traditional “escape” but rather a refusal to participate in the game on its own terms—she opts out by requesting something different. Everyone else plays along with the menu until the bitter end.
• Key Moments:
  • The fake Coast Guard “rescue.”
  • The men’s pathetic scramble for survival.
  • Margot refusing the menu’s script by asking for the cheeseburger.

Key Themes in ‘The Menu’

Art as Violence

The film frames culinary artistry not as nourishment but as domination. Each course escalates into a weaponized act of control, turning creativity into brutality.

Spectacle Over Substance

The elaborate dishes highlight how fine dining culture often prizes novelty and presentation above genuine satisfaction, leaving diners unsatisfied despite extravagance.

Gendered Power Dynamics

Through characters like Katherine and Elsa, the story highlights how women navigate exploitation, loyalty, and survival within patriarchal systems of authority.

Hospitality as Hostility

The traditional warmth of a restaurant is inverted—the staff serves not comfort but punishment, blurring the line between service and sadism.

Consumption of Identity

Guests arrive as curated versions of themselves—critics, celebrities, investors—yet the night strips them of these roles, leaving only their raw, unflattering truths.

Plot Summary

• Year Released: 2022
• Director: Mark Mylod
• Writer: Seth Reiss & Will Tracy

The Menu (2022) follows a group of wealthy elites invited to Hawthorn, an exclusive restaurant on a remote island run by famed chef Julian Slowik. Over the course of an elaborate multi-course dinner, the evening descends into psychological and physical horror as Slowik reveals each guest has been chosen for how they exploited or corrupted his art. Courses include public humiliations, suicide, mutilation, and staged attempts at escape. As the staff and guests submit to Slowik’s control, only Margot—an escort who was not originally meant to attend—recognizes the hollowness of his “loveless” performance. By requesting a simple cheeseburger, she rekindles Slowik’s long-lost joy in honest cooking and earns her release. The dinner ends in ritual immolation, with Slowik and his complicit guests consumed in flames, while Margot escapes by boat, savoring her meal as the restaurant burns.

Movies Like ‘The Menu’

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Parasite (2019)

A poor family infiltrates a wealthy household, exposing class divides and the violence lurking beneath systems of privilege.

—> Watch Parasite online.

Ready or Not (2019)

A young bride must survive a deadly ritual orchestrated by her wealthy in-laws, blending dark comedy with class critique.

—> Watch Ready or Not online.

Triangle of Sadness (2022)

Luxury cruise passengers face a breakdown of social order, skewering wealth, beauty, and power dynamics.

—> Watch Triangle of Sadness online.

The Platform (2019)

Inmates in a vertical prison are fed via a descending platform, a stark metaphor for inequality and human selfishness.

American Psycho (2000)

A wealthy investment banker indulges in violence while maintaining a façade of sophistication, critiquing consumerism and elitism.

—> Watch American Psycho online.

Hunger (2023)

A young street-food cook enters the world of elite dining under a ruthless chef, confronting power, ambition, and authenticity.

Society (1989)

A teenager discovers his upper-class family hides grotesque, cannibalistic secrets, satirizing wealth and exclusivity.

Have Your Own ‘The Menu’ Theory?

Go ahead: I know tons of people loved this movie. If you hate me for saying I didn’t like it, let me know in the comments. 

But also, you know, like, try to prove me wrong.

Perhaps better yet: Let me know if you have any deeper thoughts or theories about The Menu.

😱