re: The Menu- Netflix

The IMDB trivia for this movie is great. So much foreshadowing, attention to detail, and subtle nods.

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The entire kitchen team were trained to actually create the dishes broken down station by station, so that if at any time you look at them, they're all doing the correct things they should be doing for that dish were it real life and not a movie.

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Food consultant and restauranteuse Dominique Crenn was so impressed with Hong Chau's dedication and technique, she offered her a job in one of her restaurants.

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The burger consumed by Margot/Erin was a real burger, as opposed to the food seen throughout the movie. The dishes created by Chef Slowik were prop foods. Everyone was so hungry on set watching Anya Taylor-Joy eating the burger that John Leguizamo ordered burgers and fries from Five Guys for the entire cast.

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A newspaper article in the Chef's room shows that he once worked at a restaurant called Tantalus. Tantalus is the name of a character in Greek mythology. He invited the gods to his home for dinner but tricked them into eating a stew made from the meat of his own son whom he had murdered and dismembered in order to test their omniscience. When the gods realized what he had done, they cursed Tantalus to stand in a shallow pool of water under a fruit tree; anytime he would raise his hand for the fruit the tree's branches would rise beyond his reach, and anytime he would bend down to drink the water woud recede. Much the same way, the Chef has served the elite (the gods) and sacrificed his dream (his craft), and now all food and drink is meaningless to him.

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Much of Margot and Tyler's early conversations take on an entirely different light when it's revealed that they are not a couple, and Margot is an escort he hired. From Margot cheerfully commenting that Tyler is paying (not just for the meal, as originally implied), to Tyler lamenting that he hadn't spent time with women like Margot before, their dialogue is peppered with double-meanings and foreshadowing.

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The seven deadly sins are covered by the six tables, plus staff: Greed - Soren, Dave, and Bryce, who embezzled; Gluttony - Tyler, who's willing to die for food; Lust - Richard, who cheated on his wife; Envy - George, who's a washed-up name-dropping actor; Pride - Lillian and Ted, who believe the dinner is just for them; Sloth - Julian's mother, who did nothing to stop her son's abuse; Wrath - Julian and the other chefs, who murder everyone.

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Tyler constantly makes references to death and the food, like "to die for" and "embalm me in this" this makes sense later on as he beforehand knew he would die at the end of the meal.

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Chef Slowik rails against customers who have the gall to ask him for menu substitutions, even ordering the killing of one person partly because of such requests and screaming "THERE ARE NO SUBSTITUTIONS AT HAWTHORN!!!" while that murder is being carried out. This is one clue as to why the chef departs from the menu to humiliate Tyler and then encourage his suicide: because Tyler, in bringing a different date at the last minute, forced Hawthorne to accept a substitution--Margot / Erin is literally a substitution. This may also be part of the reason she ultimately is allowed to survive.

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Elsa mentions early on that the chefs never intentionally burn anything unless it's needed for the menu. The film ends with everyone on Hawthorne Island being burned to death as the conclusion of the titular menu.

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In the Taco Tuesday course, the chicken thighs are served on a wound up telephone cord like the one Slowik's father tried to strangle his mother with.

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The word "Chef," in addition to being a professional title, is also used in the culinary world as a term of respect and when referencing colleagues of equal caliber. Throughout the film Chef Slowik's staff call him simply Chef. It is notable then that Slowik, when speaking to Tyler during the demonstration, calls him a cook and not a chef.

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There is an exact copy of the kitchen/dining room the guests are served at inside Slowik's cabin, showing how his life has been consumed by the fine dining industry.

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There are 12 dining guests, just like apostles in the Last Supper.

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Slowik mentions that gift bags given to the remaining guests at the end of the night contains one of Verrick's fingers. This matches the number of remaining guests (10) now that Tyler has died and Margot/Erin has left.

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Chef Slowik hails from Waterloo, Iowa, home of the infamous serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Both had working-class alcoholic fathers who frequently beat them. Chef Slowik started his career making fast food cheeseburgers; John Wayne Gacy started his career making Kentucky Fried Chicken. Chef Slowik's last meal was french fries and a fast food cheeseburger; John Wayne Gacy's last meal, before he was executed, was french fries and a bucket of KFC.

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To each their own. I love her unique look.

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my man, i'm in the "Demi Moore still doesn't look bad" camp and trying to avoid thirstrapping Salma Hayek threads on the OTL.

20 year olds don't do it anymore. i'm to the point where i think "dude, she's my niece's age."

Dude, that’s awesome, thanks for sharing those

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She looked much better before she fricked up her face with buccal fat removal.

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I automatically dislike anybody that has that done. I don't think there's a more vain and self obsessed plastic surgery procedure than having your frickin cheeks artificially sucked in

I like when she wiped her mouth on the menu as she watched the place burn.

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This. In my top 5 favorite movies of the past 5-10 years.

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Right there with ya.

Plus, Leguizamo's assistant could get it.

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I like when she wiped her mouth on the menu as she watched the place burn.

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That cheeseburger looked AMAZING.

The ingredients list for smores made me chuckle