Wealthy foodie Tyler Ledford brings his date Margot Mills to Hawthorn, an exclusive restaurant on a private island operated by celebrity chef Julian Slowik. Their fellow guests are food critic Lillian Bloom and her editor Ted; wealthy regulars Richard and Anne Leibrandt; washed-up movie star George Diaz[a] and his personal assistant Felicity Lynn; business partners Soren, Dave, and Bryce; and Slowik's alcoholic mother, Linda. The group is given a tour by maître d'hôtel Elsa, who notes that Margot is not Tyler's original guest.
Dinner begins, and Slowik introduces a series of increasingly unsettling courses. For the third course, uncomfortable truths about each guest are laser-etched on tortillas. During the fourth course, sous-chef Jeremy Louden kills himself, and when Richard tries to leave, the staff cuts off his finger as a warning to the others. Unhappy with his angel investor Doug Verrick's interference, Slowik has him drowned in front of the guests. The fifth course commences with Slowik allowing himself to be stabbed by Katherine, an employee he sexually harassed. The female guests dine with Katherine, while the men are given the chance to escape the island, but Slowik's staff catches them all.
Slowik explains that each guest was invited because they contributed to him losing his passion for his craft, or for exploiting the work of food artisans like him, and they all will be dead by the end of the night. Since Margot's presence was unplanned, Slowik privately gives her the choice of dying with the staff or the guests. When she hesitates, he chooses the staff. Margot admits she is an escort named Erin, whose clients included Richard, who hired her to roleplay as his daughter. Slowik reveals that Tyler was informed the guests would be killed, but was so desperate to experience the restaurant that he hired Margot to replace his ex-girlfriend because Hawthorn does not seat lone diners. Slowik invites Tyler to cook, but Tyler's performance fails to live up to his pretensions. Slowik humiliates him then whispers in his ear, causing a deflated Tyler to leave the kitchen.
Slowik sends Margot to the smokehouse to retrieve a barrel needed for dessert, and she sees Tyler has hanged himself. Sneaking into Slowik's living quarters, Margot is attacked by a jealous Elsa and fatally stabs her. After noticing a framed employee of the month award showing a young and happy Slowik cooking burgers, Margot finds a radio, calling for help before returning to the restaurant with the barrel. A Coast Guard officer arrives, convincing the guests they are saved, but reveals himself to be a line cook in disguise. Concocting a plan, Margot complains she is still hungry after Slowik's "loveless" cooking. She requests a simple meal of a cheeseburger and french fries, which Slowik finds joy in personally preparing. After enjoying one bite, Margot asks to take her food "to go", and Slowik allows her to leave.
For the s'mores-inspired dessert course, the staff decorate the restaurant with sauces and crushed graham crackers, dressing the guests in marshmallow stoles and chocolate fezzes. Slowik sets the restaurant ablaze, detonating the barrel and killing the guests, staff, and himself. Watching the fire as she escapes in the Coast Guard boat, Margot eats her cheeseburger and wipes her mouth with a copy of the menu.
Will Tracy dined at Cornelius Sjømatrestaurant, an island restaurant outside Bergen, Norway, during a honeymoon and later suggested a story to Seth Reiss inspired by the experience.[5][6] Several figures from the world of fine dining were brought on as consultants for the film, including chef Dominique Crenn, who recreated several dishes from her San Francisco restaurant Atelier Crenn for the fictional restaurant Hawthorn, and second unit director David Gelb, who was brought on to recreate the filmmaking style from his Netflix docuseries Chef's Table.[7]
It was announced in April 2019 that Alexander Payne was attached to direct.[8] In December 2019, the screenplay appeared on the annual Black List, a survey showcasing the most popular films still in development.[9] By May 2020, Searchlight Pictures held the distribution rights, and Payne had left the film due to scheduling conflicts, with Mark Mylod replacing Payne as director.[10]
Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, reported that The Menu was streamed for 491 million minutes from January 2–8, 2023, ranking as the third most-streamed film of the week.[29] The streaming aggregator Reelgood, which tracks real-time data from 5 million U.S. users for original and acquired content across SVOD and AVOD services, announced that it was the second most-streamed program in the U.S. for the week ending January 11.[30]JustWatch, a guide to streaming content with access to data from more than 20 million users around the world, announced that The Menu was the second most-streamed horror film in Canada during the Halloween period between October 1, 2022, and October 13, 2025.[31]
Reception
Box office
The Menu grossed $38.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $41.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $79.6 million.[3]
In the United States and Canada, The Menu was released alongside She Said, and was projected to gross $7–10 million from 3,100 theaters in its opening weekend.[32][33] It made $3.6 million on its first day, including $1 million from Wednesday and Thursday night previews. The film went on to debut to $9 million, finishing second behind holdover Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.[2] Over its second weekend, The Menu made $5.5 million (and a total of $7.6 million over the five-day Thanksgiving frame), finishing fifth.[34] During its third weekend, the film made $3.5 million, finishing fourth.[35]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 336 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10.The website's consensus reads: "While its social commentary relies on basic ingredients, The Menu serves up black comedy with plenty of flavor."[36]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[37] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 78% positive score, with 53% saying they would definitely recommend it.[2]
Critics and commentators observed that The Menu's Hawthorn satirized several real-life fine dining restaurants, including the stylized desserts at Alinea, the goodie bag of granola at Eleven Madison Park, the catching of the restaurant's own fish at Fäviken, the "Scandi severity" of Noma and the remote island location of the Willows Inn.[38][39][40]
↑Willmore, Allison (November 18, 2022). "The Menu Is Deliciously Mean". Vulture. Retrieved October 14, 2025. Hawthorne, located on a small island a short ferry ride from the mainland, feels inspired by the setting of Lummi Island's the Willows Inn and the Scandi severity of Noma in Copenhagen.
↑Moskin, Julia (November 29, 2022). "The Willows Inn Closes After Abuse Allegations and Lawsuits". The New York Times. Retrieved October 15, 2025. The Willows was one of the main inspirations for the recent movie "The Menu," exploring the dark side of fine dining and celebrity-chef culture.
↑"IFMCA Award Nominations 2022". International Film Music Critics Association. February 9, 2023. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
↑"IFMCA Award Winners 2022". International Film Music Critics Association. February 23, 2023. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
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