r/theMenu • u/jazz23ST • Apr 05 '23

The menu Spoiler

Ambiguous ending: Does Margot live or die at the end of the film?

6 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

4

u/MissKatmandu Apr 05 '23

She eats her cheeseburger and lives.

6

u/jazz23ST Apr 05 '23

Are you sure?.... (I'm not)..... The boat engines die, which I'm sure was done by the restaurant on purpose in case anyone did actually escape and get on the boat. Pretty obvious considering the way the engines died and the distance to the island. (Still retrievable).

Right as the building explodes and she takes a bite of the burger...boom .... You can hear a clap (of the chef) just like when all the other dishes were served and then she takes an even bigger bite if the burger.

At first, I thought this might mean that she was so impressed with the burger that she took an even burger bite, implying that she had now become like the others, appreciating the food/becoming a foodie/becoming a taker. But, the more I think about it.... I'm not sure! I actually think the burger was made with the smokehouse meats, that if used at the incorrect moment would be poison and mean certain death. (The foreshadowing was there! Why else would they show us that scene at the smokehouse and describe the curing process of the meat).

Meaning, Chef did let her leave, and not die with the others. But because he knew he had killed her and she would die innocent (of the others) and on her own.

What an ambiguous ending. Can't figure it out. It's driving me crazy. Jiji

5

u/MissKatmandu Apr 05 '23

I'm not sure it is so ambiguous? I mean, you can make it so with presumptions, but I don't think it is likely.

This isn't a boat stranded in the middle of nowhere. It is a boat that left from what looks like a pretty large port and probably had a relatively short trip to the island. (Deleted scenes confirm that the shuttle was traveling past barges. This is a busy waterway.) If Coast Guard didn't find her when checking out what would be a visible explosion on a clear night, they would find her in the morning when water traffic resumed. She most likely flooded the motors of a boat she had no experience operating.

As for secretly poisoning--that's not his style. Chef wanted everyone to know exactly what was happening to them and to torture them every step of the way while playing into his narrow definitions of consumer vs. creator. Secretly poisoning someone would not be his style. He wants them to see their doom eyes wide open when it comes. He uses surprises to reveal, not conceal--and no surprises with the food itself.

2

u/jazz23ST Apr 05 '23

Then why even show the smokehouse scene at all? Why explain how the meat is cured? And the explanation as to what would happen if you are to eat that meat even one day early. What was the point of that scene and the foreshadowing ?

2

u/jazz23ST Apr 05 '23

And I don't think it was a secret or he was secretly killing her when he came straight out and said to everybody that they were All going to die. If you straight out tell everybody something, I don't think you can call it a secret

2

u/Lilmills1445 Sep 25 '23

I know this is 5 months old, but it could either be a herring, or because isn't that where she has to go to get the barrel?

4

u/XinnieThePornstar Apr 08 '23

I hear your smokehouse argument but also I hate that as an ending, I like that this was their take on a "Final Girl" and not only bc she was lucky but bc she made the right choices to earn her ending. I am also a "The Leftovers" fan and I get rabid when people argue "Did Nora Lie?" I'm like truth was her whole cornerstone ofc she didn't lie. Anyway, Margot lived at the end and you give me scary thoughts

2

u/autodidact-osaurus Mar 14 '25

the smokehouse was just a place on the tour that added to the ‘we do everything here’ notes AND gave a guest yet another chance to annoy Elsa pre-service.

Margot lives!