Summary

• Margot's fate in The Menu is revealed to be death despite viewers rooting for her to escape Chef Slowik's deadly plans.
• The film explores the relationship between consumer and creator, touching on themes of classism and industry dynamics.
• The theory that Chef Slowik poisons Margot in the end adds complexity to the overall story and challenges the perceived motives of the characters.

A popular The Menu theory reveals that Margot didn't escape Chef Slowik's deadly plans unscathed and that Margot does die in The Menu's end. As a punchy and poignant dark comedy horror movie, The Menu is rife with commentary about the relationship between consumer and creator, with messages that apply both to industries outside of the world of food, and to classism as a whole. This is balanced carefully with murders, mutilations, and general mayhem, creating a setting wherein audiences root for the plucky underdog protagonist Margot to escape with her life.

Viewers' hopes for Margot seem to be rewarded in The Menu's ending, wherein the confused but alive character eats her cheeseburger order on a boat as the restaurant and its inhabitants burn to the ground. However, why Chef Slowik allowed Margot to leave in the final moments despite everyone else being doomed to a fiery fate is ambiguous, as he previously was only going to allow Margot to at best die with the restaurant's staff. This mystery - combined with one detail shown at the beginning of the movie - led to a dark The Menu theory that Chef Slowik poisons Margot in the end after all.

Theory: Chef Slowik Killed Margot By Using Day-Old Beef In The Cheeseburger

Slowik's To-Go Order May Have Been His Final Kill

Towards the start of the movie, the then-oblivious group is led around the grounds of the isolated island The Menu's restaurant, Hawthorn, is built upon. The cast is notably shown Hawthorn's smokehouse, where staff member Elsa explains they age the meat of dairy cows for 152 days. When Elsa is jokingly asked what would happen if they ate the beef on the 153rd day, she states, "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."

It's a moment that appears to introduce the darker tone of the movie's later events - but it's also been theorized Chef Slowik used some of this deadly beef for The Menu's memorable burger he gives Margot in the final act.

Where To Watch The Menu

Why Chef Slowik May Have Wanted To Kill Margot (Despite Letting Her Go)

Slowik Had Little Mercy In His Plan

It makes sense that Chef Slowik may have still wanted to kill Margot despite letting her go, as this works perfectly into his characterization throughout the unveiling of his plan. Firstly, it's clear that even when he realizes she is in the service industry like he is, this doesn't garner her safety, only less of Slowik's contempt. When Margot reveals her true identity as Erin, and explains she is an escort hired by Tyler despite the fact he knew she would die if she came along, Chef Slowik only offers her the chance to die alongside the staff, instead of as one of the guests.

The Menu theory is backed up because of how notably brutal Slowik is with what he considers enough to deem someone worthy of the painful and drawn-out demise of burning to death as a human marshmallow. For example, personal assistant Felicity is killed for the fact she went to the Ivy League Brown University and has no student loan from it. Her murder is thus made part of the plan without clarifying whether this is because she got a scholarship, or because she comes from wealth. While the answer is likely the latter, the scene has been lauded as darkly funny because of how savage this snap decision is.

Margot giving Chef Slowik one last reminder of the pure love he had for food before it was sabotaged by high society logically probably isn't enough to save her either by this metric. However, it might be enough for Slowik to provide her with a less awful death. A "short" death from a lovingly made cheeseburger would qualify as this, and while Chef Slowik poisons Margot, it would explain why Slowik let Margo go, as well as being a perfect contrast to what happened to Tyler in The Menu. This would also explain why Margot obtains a barrel from the smokehouse that Elsa states Slowik didn't ask the staff for in their meticulous prep work.

How Chef Slowik Killing Margot Completely Changes The Menu's Ending

Slowik Could Have Bitterly Recreated His Own Reluctant Fate For Margot

Chef Slowik allowing Margot to seemingly live in The Menu movie ending appeared to show his appreciation for his humble beginnings and for Margot reminding him of that no-frills atmosphere via her cheeseburger order. With this in mind, his letting Margot leave alive showed that his love for making good food remained in him despite his bitterness for the trappings of the fine dining side of the industry. The mere idea that Chef Slowik poisons Margo, however, drastically changes The Menu ending from this.

The theory that Margot does die in The Menu suggests Slowik may have been repeating his own fate symbolically. In a deleted scene for The Menu, it's revealed that Slowik disappeared from the fine dining scene "at the top of his game", only to be rediscovered and thus forcibly brought back into it by food critic Lillian. The idea of escaping only to be brought back to the same fate would then be a fitting one for the cook to recreate - making Chef Slowik killing Margot a reflection of how this "rediscovery" ultimately killed off the last of his hopes by killing the character audiences most hoped would live.

Why Chef Slowik Poisoning Margot Makes The Menu Worse

The Answer Is Left Up To The Viewer

The question of whether or not Margot dies in The Menu is open-ended and can be decided by the fans. However, if the theory is true, it makes The Menu much worse and makes the movie's messages weaker. The Menu is ultimately about Chef Slowik's disdain for the industry he has mastered and the people who are a part of it. He saw himself in Margot because she wasn't one of those people, and he ultimately wasn't out to get her. If Chef Slowik killed Margot with the poisoned burger, that just makes Slowik a maniacal villain instead of a layered and troubled antagonist.