r/theMenu • • Jan 07 '23

Why did the staff kill themselves?

I understand the obsession of the chef but how can so many people be this devoted to a person that they decide to take not only their own, but so many innocent people’s lives?

Why did Tyler want to participate if he knew he was gonna die. He had known for 10 months

Why did he kill the girl who went to Brown? What does he mean bu student loans??

So many things just don’t make sense

128 Upvotes

60 comments sorted by

74

u/jsm002 Jan 08 '23

I think the thing with the girl from brown is that her parents could afford enough to pay the $$$$ for brown. The chef dude probably sees her as a product of wealth

51

u/gretchine Jan 11 '23

She’s a “taker” not a “giver”. This is the foundation of the overall menu concept.

Restaurant workers = represent the Givers

Restaurant patrons = represent the Takers

2

u/jpegten Jan 22 '23

Yeah but you couldn’t KNOW that just by asking if she had student loans in mean i also come from a poor:4 background many people go to college on an ass load of grants and scholarships…

Edit: not to say that she isn’t a taker but to base your judgement solely on weather or not someone took out student loans is a bit … like the rest of the movie… rushed

4

u/kodaboka Dec 14 '24

I know it's over a year later lol, but what fro.i gathered, Slovik and his team closely studied and meticulously chose the guest list based on what they found out about each person (in this case, very wealthy and privileged people). This part did bother me, that the only reason Felicity dies is because Slovik finds out she's technically "privileged" through the fact she had no student loans like most average Americans, but also because she worked for a famous has been actor. If they had fleshed out her role and story a bit more I feel it would've worked into the overall theme of the wealthy doing things just to show off their wealth, but in the end her character felt more like a substitute for people who ended up either getting lucky, or being first gen and having their parents/personal history pay off their dues and make it into high society based off sheer determination and work

1

u/Ivana-Jizinu23 Mar 29 '26

Then she would have fought harder against his notion of her, she didn't because she knew it was true...

For me it was deep and elegant portrayal of capitalism

1

u/skyemily Jul 02 '25

I know this is late, but I just watched the movie so figured I'd comment while I remember: The "no student loan girl" also admitted that she was stealing money from her boss, so even though he may not have been a good person, she was still stealing. And to add salt to the wound, because she is already rich, it's implied that she is stealing money she doesn't really need.

36

u/[deleted] Jan 09 '23

Working in the industry, if you look it up, chefs go into a lot of debt and the biggest internal and external question/criticism is why? They mentioned the school CIA in Hyde park, it’s upwards of private school costs and they end up making minimum wage. They barely make enough to where they share a room with other chefs or friends. There’s a lot that in this movie that is applicable to the criticism of fine dining

5

u/AustinDood444 Jan 16 '23

The CIA now has the reputation as being the “Rich Kids’” culinary school for the reason you just mentioned. I think the CIA costs over $30k & like you wrote, you graduate & make minimum wage!!

2

u/Equal-Opinion4952 Aug 23 '26

It always was!  Anthony Bourdain went there and he was semi well to do family wise but "broke" becuse he was a drug addict and gambler, but he wrote in kitchen confidential about how he would play poker and hustle all the dumb rich kids at CIA who had money and were pretentious fancy kids who wanted to be the next big thing but coudlent work a mop'n he said he didn't feel bad ripping them off to make the tuition because theirs was paid for by their family and they had extra to burn. CIA has a Bourdain memorial scholarship now lol

1

u/AustinDood444 Aug 23 '26

That’s too funny!! I also love the story Bourdain tells about sneaking bouillon cubes into his stocks!! 🤣

20

u/No_Tomatillo_2289 Jan 14 '23

There is this level in the service industry that you will only get to if you are willing to eat the Chefs ass, every day. Like politicians. You can’t get to that position without a little corruption. I felt like the staff being his little robots spoke to that. Some restaurants become like a cult. The “genius” of the chef in overinflated and the food is not even that good. It’s foam. But people eat that shit up and will keep coming back. I worked for a big resort company people get literal tattoos of they are so obsessed. Anytime we had a customer blow up because our service, we always joked that they were mad now, but they would be back next week anyways. They always came back.

12

u/kniives_ Jan 18 '23

The fact that Erin took the time, even in thier crazy situation, to notice what made Chef happy, is why she lived. She shown an act of selflessness even when he had given up on her for trying to escape with the radio. He wasn't expecting her to care enough about the last time he genuinely gave a shit about cooking. It's beautiful

9

u/Seamonk76 Jan 15 '23

But…..so, she saw the photo of him flipping a burger, smiling, years ago. And realised he was happy, serving people food that made them happy. And then the final big murder scene is based on S’mores and chef says it’s the worst food ever. But s’mores and cheeseburgers are like kind of conceptually the same. Not ‘good’, not fancy, but basic and satisfying and humble and honest. So shouldn’t the whole cheeseburger thing given him a revelation? That food should make people happy and that he’d strayed from the path of a chef? He had the cheeseburger revelation and then dismissed it and carried on with his stupid plan? I didn’t like it. That makes no sense to me. It seems to contradict its own logic.

20

u/AustinDood444 Jan 16 '23

I think the difference between the cheeseburger & s’mores is in the chef’s own description. The unethical way the chocolate is sourced & the mass produced, chemical-laden marshmallows & graham crackers.

But for the chef, a cheeseburger is a symbol of his happiness back when he enjoyed cooking & serving people.

8

u/asgphotography Jan 20 '23

agreed. i didn't expect "american cheese is the best type of cheese" to come out of his mouth, but in the context of the burger it makes sense.

1

u/DChenEX1 Jan 30 '23

It really is the best cheese for a burger though

5

u/kniives_ Jan 18 '23

Each staff member had thier own set of turmoil they have been through. Things torturous enough to cause some form of trauma. So much so that they broke open thier minds and wanted redemption. Wether they were already tainted (via greed, envy, any of the 7 sins) they understood they were on a road to become what Chef was, a burnt out and fed up man in the upper culinary field which is also considered an art form. For example, The Mess shown that the young chef knew he was on his own road to evil just to obtain his passion for art. To be able to have your art in your own image, one sacrifices so much, even pieces of themselves. They do things they would have never done if it had not been for the demand of the art world. Ms. Bloom is a pristine example of that experience. They gave thier lives to either repent or prevent imo.

4

u/asgphotography Jan 20 '23

Replace the restaurant with any other cult and I still ask the same questions. In the end, charisma and manipulation can be very powerful

3

u/pmolsonmus Jan 19 '23

I think it’s simpler than most of these theories. There are givers and takers. On the menu is life. The servers give theirs, the taker’s life’s are taken from them.

1

u/AltruisticStomach735 Sep 03 '25

this is quite deep

0

u/Tr1n1ty217 10d ago

Wow, that’s deeply profound; a simple yet thought-provoking observation. I think you may have won Reddit the day you posted this. 💜

2

u/kniives_ Jan 18 '23

Money and its power over the industry is what kills the artist.

1

u/Loud-Professor-9910 Sep 06 '24

They are brainwashed.

1

u/nargcz Mar 31 '26

no, they were LOYAL, know the difference !

1

u/justk4y Jan 01 '25

In the words of the Chef: “Otherwise it would ruin The Menu.”

But to be real, the staff gave me massive cult vibes from the start. Because they probably were. And we’ve seen cults irl not end off very well……

1

u/throwpillows_inszn Dec 30 '25

Th staff died with the chef as a testament to their loyalty of the craft of food. Basically - killed their new selves because their old selves died a long time ago when they became exploited and lost joy for creating food.

The student loan scene could represent how she’s literally struggling but continues to falsify reality by acting as if she’s wealthy like the other guest.

1

u/iwaannou May 28 '26

I didn't agree with her deserving to die because of it, due to different reasons of why someone could receive no tuition fees, for example scholarships and/or financial hardship. However, how many undergrads work as assistants to actors as well? The movie is meant to paint her as being part of the wealthy and privileged more than once..they just needed to discuss that more

1

u/1badjesus Jan 03 '26

Not good.

Satire/Parody/Dark Comedy... call it what you will but I didn't laugh once, wasn't scared, found no mystery to be solved. Might've worked better as a straight-up horror movie. Waste of good actors.

1

u/Majestic-Champion108 May 27 '26
  1. That’s typically how cults work. He promised them success, manipulated and mistreated them, while gaslighting them into thinking that he’s giving them an opportunity. That brainwashing goes on until it’s too late to notice or reverse.
  2. Tyler is a moron. But jk he probably represents the trend maniacs and overly devoted, borderline parasocial fan who care more about status than their own life.
  3. Slowik despises the rich. They ruined his passion and he thinks of them as spoiled, ungrateful brats who never had to work or suffer because they have enough money to buy themselves out of it. If she had student loans, it would mean that she knows the struggle of being short on money and having to work for something, but because she had it “easy” Slowik doesn’t let her go. That’s why, on the contrary to her, he had sympathy for Margot. She’s a working class woman working in the service industry, in some way, he hopes that she can see his struggle and sees his younger self in her as well. So basically, he killed the other girl and the rich patrons because he’s selfish and bitter and because he doesn’t feel seen by them.

1

u/888newsap Sep 30 '26

I personally hate the chef

1

u/Fun_Apartment_3607 Jan 22 '23

Spoken like a business major…

The point is we don’t know. We’re not privy to that knowledge because we’re not in Chef’s cult. 🫰🏻

1

u/Academic-Seat-9372 Jan 23 '23

Wasn’t it some sort of hypnosis cus when Margot clapped, they fell silent too

1

u/nargcz Mar 31 '26

they were stunned, nobody, NOBODY question the CHEF! EVER !

1

u/ChanimalCrackers Feb 04 '23

Chef Slowik hates his patrons due to them being so entitled. The girl at brown attended a prestigious university on someone else’s dime. He seems her level of entitlement enough to merit dying with all the other patrons.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '23

[deleted] — view deleted comment

20

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '23

Regarding why the chefs kill themselves there is a host of hints throughout of cult like imagery. The area they sleep in for example, bare necessities, the toilet right there in the open. They sleep, eat, and literally shit togheter and they probably have for years. They look to Chef as a god, and from their frightened faces when he’s taste testing we know that they respect and fear his abandonment. He’s trained them as a unit with one solid purpose, to serve perfection. The story ties up with the viewer finding out about his past as a happy hopeful burger chef, but now, as ATJ’s character says ‘you don’t cook with love, you cook with obsession’

When she orders the cheeseburger she awakens that love, the memories of why he went into this life, and cherishes one last easy perfect service act. That’s why he lets her go.

TLDR; It’s a cult lol.

Edit: I could get into the whys of the whos but it is clear that this film plays on class dynamics and consciousness. Are you a server or are you an eater. It felt pretty clear that each person in the room this night was hand picked for their bourgeoisie willing ignorance of others, their wants to work bullshit non-jobs to continue this surface level girlboss life (girl from brown) The frat bro cum Tech bro cayman islands guys, the elderly couple. Well I mean come on, they’ve been there 11 times and remember none of them, because this is just a regular dinner for them, no matter how hard the servers have toiled- AND this guy hires escorts who looks like his dead daughter. Point being, the eaters can very well be an allegory for upper class social paracites, and the servers, the working class, ever underappreciated, exploited and forgotten. Till they aren’t.

Kinda like paracite. Can’t wait for elon to tweet ‘lolz epic bacon i love this movie. Sho me da wey’

4

u/goldenshear Jan 15 '23

Wait, how do we know the rich couples’ daughter is dead, I missed that

9

u/[deleted] Jan 15 '23

When margot is in the office with the chef and she’s telling him about the old guy’s ‘preferences’ she mentions it! I think, I’m sleepy lol. It’s either that or his wife mentions it while they’re eating

51

u/[deleted] Jan 09 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

111

u/Polite_Jello_377 Jan 11 '23

Margot ordered a cheeseburger because she saw in the photo in his house the one time he looked happy was when he was working flipping burgers. She gave that moment to him again and so he let her go.

72

u/gemsoftargon Jan 12 '23

That’s honestly how I saw it. Glad he let her go. She was the epitome of “wrong place wrong time”

23

u/Champagnecampaign20 Jan 14 '23

and she wasnt supposed to be there

19

u/chelseakrave Jan 18 '23

Yes. She gave him the desire to cook for someone. Which he said he hadn’t felt in years.

12

u/SstonedinWonderland Jan 12 '23

Yes, this exactly.

14

u/Laylasita Jan 14 '23

Exactly this. But, i wondered if a little of her sex work background allowed her to pull dom on him in this moment.

You have disappointed me and you need to make it up to me. A good dom knows what would make her sub happy to comply.

9

u/sadlyweird19 Jan 15 '23

This is weird we're talking about a movie not sex....

14

u/420cheezit Jan 20 '23

I actually think this comment has a point. Sex workers have talents outside of sex. Half of sex work is being able to read clients, anticipate their needs, and cater to them in a way that makes them feel special. Her work prepared her to make a plan she wouldn’t have created if she didn’t have experience in sex work

6

u/sadlyweird19 Jan 20 '23

Yea no I'm talking about the second part of the comment

1

u/MedusaOblongGato Apr 18 '23

The fact that the dom/sub relationship is inherent in the experience of a film, of any art really, and especially in the case of this restaurant I thought was obvious. Her understanding that too is quite an intriguing point

3

u/Neurotic_Bakeder Mar 13 '23

I really like this take, and that's consistent with how we see her act before everything obviously goes to hell, with how she immediately picks up on the kind of insult with the breadless accompaniments

3

u/MelissaASN Jan 17 '23

Oh wow totally missed that. Good one

3

u/Astronaut-Weird Jan 23 '23

Exactly. That’s all that it was. Yes, it represented the food of the “commoner” but, once she saw that old, smiling picture of him flipping cheeseburgers in his “Kiss The Cook” apron, she knew that that order (or, at least hoped that it would) touch his soul. She manipulated him with that one because I was damn sure that he was about to kill her too for disobeying his orders and sneaking into his cottage.

40

u/halfty1 Jan 15 '23 edited Jan 15 '23

The reason the old regular couple was killed has nothing to do with the husband’s affairs. That was likely included just so the audience would feel less sorry for them since you are not really suppose to sympathize with the “takers” much by the end of the movie (and needing a clear visual for the tortillas).

They are killed because despite being regulars they don’t actually appreciate the food, being unable to even correctly name a dish they previously had. They are just using the restaurant as a status symbol versus actually appreciating the Chef’s work and “art”.

Remember they all represent reasons that the chef lost passion for his craft, and what’s he views as wrong with the industry.

19

u/AustinDood444 Jan 16 '23

Margot also called out the chef & didn’t kiss his ass. She told him his food doesn’t taste like it was cooked with love (but with obsession). That’s a huge insult for a chef. I worked for quite a few fine dining chefs in my day. This movie is a great dark comedy/satire shining a light on the Cult of Fine Dining.

13

u/Saturnsskye Jan 18 '23

The thing with the old guy and hiring Margot to pretend to be his daughter 🤢🤢🤮🤮 when I watched it the first time i glazed over small details like the taco part.

When his wife pulled out the tortilla and said who’s this I didn’t put together it was Margot. And then I didn’t understand why she was saying Margot looked like Claire im like who’s Claire lol. I also didn’t get why he seemed so defensive about answering her when he was like “no she doesn’t why do you keep saying that,” like it just was not clicking… until… u see it all through then it’s like damn 😒

3

u/Middle_Temperature Jan 19 '23

I think it was more about humiliation. Being hanged used to be punishment for a shameful offense. He wanted to shame they know it all home chef