Is ‘The Menu’ Scary? Why The Horror Movie is Rated R

So you want to watch The Menu on HBO Max, because everyone keeps talking about it, and tweeting about it, and rating it 4 stars on Letterboxd. But you’re not really a horror movie person, and you’re worried The Menu might be too scary for your delicate sensibilities. If that’s you, then you’ve come to the right place.

Directed by Mark Mylod, with a screenplay by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, The Menu is a delightful horror satire that mocks the culture of ridiculously fancy restaurants designed for food enthusiasts with far too much money. Ralph Fiennes stars as the celebrity chef-owner of a restaurant where the portions are minuscule, the ingredients are locally-sourced, and the snobbery is off the charts. Anya Taylor-Joy stars as Margot, who is simply there as the date of a food-loving man named Tyler (Nicholas Hoult). Margot could not care less about foodie culture. But she soon realizes the diners on this particular night are in for so much more than just a ridiculously expensive meal.

The Menu is definitely a horror movie, so you should be prepared for some death and violence. However, The Menu is not nearly as scary as some modern horror movies tend to be. Read on for a play-by-play breakdown of exactly how scary The Menu is, and why The Menu is rated R.

Is The Menu scary?

Yes, in the sense that The Menu is a horror movie, so, you know, it’s going to be at least a little bit scary. That’s kind of the whole point of the genre! That said, The Menu is not as scary, nor as grotesque, as other movies in the horror genre. There are not any jump scares intended to make you flinch, nor is there gratuitous violence and gore intended to make you feel queasy. People do get maimed and die, but the camera doesn’t linger on this violence. The film is more focused on making fun of rich foodies who dine at fancy restaurants than it is on being scary.

And no, The Menu is not about cannibalism, so if that’s preventing you from watching the film, don’t worry. No human flesh is consumed during the duration of this film.

Why is The Menu rated R?

If it’s not that scary, then why is The Menu rated R, right? Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the scenes that earn the R-rating. (Major spoilers ahead.) For the fourth course of the night, a sous chef named Jeremy shoots and kills himself in front of everyone. You see him put the gun in his mouth and pull the trigger, and you briefly see a splattering of blood on the plastic sheet behind him. The camera doesn’t linger, but it is shocking to see.

Soon after, one of the guests, Richard (Reed Birney), attempts to escape but is quickly stopped by the restaurant’s beefy guards. As punishment for trying to escape, one of the kitchen staff cuts off Richard’s finger with a cleaver. Again, the camera doesn’t linger, but you do see the finger being chopped off. You see the severed finger, and you hear Richard’s horrible screams.

After Chef Slowik confirms that everyone has been brought here to die, he demonstrates just how serious he is about that by killing his “angel” investor, Doug Verrick, by stringing him up with angel wings over the ocean, suspended by wire. Then the wires slowly lower Verrick into the ocean, drowning him. We watch this happen from inside the restaurant, so the shot is not a close-up of Verrick drowning—but it’s still disturbing.

The next death comes when Chef humiliates Nicholas Hoult’s character, Tyler, by asking him to cook the next course and Tyler fails spectacularly. After his failure, Chef leans in to whisper in Tyler’s ear. We don’t hear what Chef says, but we can assume it’s some variation of “kill yourself.” Because in response, Tyler steps back, nods, and says, “Yes, chef.” He walks out of the room, taking off his tie as he goes. Later in the movie, we see Tyler’s body dangling by his neck in the backroom. You don’t see him hang himself, nor do you see him die, but the implication that he took his own life is clear.

Later in the movie, Margot faces off with the restaurant’s maitre d’, Elsa (Hong Chau), in a deadly battle that ends with Margot stabbing a knife into Elsa’s throat. In this one, the camera does linger—you see the blood bubbling out of the wound as Elsa gurgles and chokes.

Finally, for the grand finale, the final course of the night is a human “s’more.” Everyone is wrapped in a marshmallow straight jacket, with little chocolate caps. Gunpowder is sprinkled around the restaurant, and Chef lights it on fire himself. You see his body go up in flames. You also see a close-up of the chocolate melting on the food critic’s face (played by Janet McTeer). But other than that, you don’t see the results of the fire or the burnt bodies. You just know that everyone died.

Also: People say “fuck” a lot.

Does Margot die in The Menu?

Nope! Margot is the only guest who makes it out of the restaurant alive. After she requests a cheeseburger, Chef is touched that Margot truly “saw” him, and reminded him of why he loves cooking in the first place. And so, he lets her escape. He places her burger in a to-go box, and she is allowed to leave the restaurant. She boards the boat brought by the fake coast guard officer and sails away to safety. In the film’s final scene, Margot sits on the docked boat, eating her cheeseburger, as she watches the restaurant burn to the ground. Huzzah!