The Menu (2022) Explained – Seven Deadly Sins

The Menu is already a dark film, with its thinly veiled dark humour wearing a horror suit. It’s unpredictable at the best of times. It has a strong message of social commentary about what people will do for social status, money, and to make themselves seem better than others. But surely, that can’t be the only message that such a well-thought-out film has, right? Some theories have emerged about the much darker meaning behind the different characters of The Menu and how they represent the biblical seven deadly sins.

Seven Sections, Seven Deadly Sins

The esteemed and prestigious restaurant in the film, Hawthorne, is divided into seven sections per Chef Slowik’s design. Six sections have individual customer tables; the seventh is Chef Julian Slowik’s Kitchen, making the seventh. Each customer section represents a specific type of customer. So it isn’t a coincidence that there are seven sections in total.

So, do the characters of The Menu have a secret and dark meaning? It most certainly seems so.

The Menu Characters & Their Seven Deadly Sins

1. Envy

The sin of Envy is represented by the food critic Lillian and her editor. She makes her living by criticising artists, but her criticism needs to be more credible. Throughout the film, she proves that she has no idea what she is actually talking about and is just an angry, jealous person who looks down on chefs and shuts down their businesses with her harsh criticism. Unfortunately, she cannot spot the satire in Chef Slowik’s food. Her jealousy makes it clear that she is not a gifted and driven artist like the people she shuts down.

2. Gluttony

Tyler is a clear representation of Gluttony. Firstly, he mindlessly eats anything that is put in front of him. Second, Tyler portrays himself as someone with some food preparation knowledge and even reveres the chef. But, by the end, it becomes clear that he is just a gluttonous gourmand who will eat anything he can if it comes from prestige.

3. Greed

Greed is represented by the movie star George Díaz, who will take any role offered to him for the paycheck. He acts in silly roles in terrible movies, all for the money. He is invited to the restaurant because he reminds the chef of how he has sold himself out and conformed to the wishes of the people paying for his food.

4. Lust

There is no more obvious representation of Lust than Richard. His wife asks him if he knows Margot after finding her staring at him, which he denies. The truth comes out when the chef serves tortillas that have the patrons’ darkest secrets laser-printed on them, as there is one with a picture of Richard on a date with a young woman. He was one of Margot’s previous clients, and his infidelity is apparent.

5. Pride

Bryce and his finance bros are some of the most prideful. They are the employers of Slowik’s investors, and they make it clear that they know their status. They disrespect the restaurant by demanding food that isn’t actually on the menu. When their request is denied, they proudly remark, “You know who we are, right?” In some lovely irony, their pride has no effect on the situation.

6. Sloth

The chef’s mother represents the sin of Sloth. We don’t know anything about her in the film until the chef recalls his traumatic past. Still, for the rest of the time we see her, she is sitting alone and drinking or lying lifeless at her table. In his eyes, at the very least, she is a sloth, sleeping all the time and enabling his sin.

7. Wrath

It’s suggested that Wrath is represented by Chef Slowik himself, and guilty by association is his staff as well. Throughout the film, he channels his anger at society and his pretentious and entitled clients towards his patrons through the food he makes for them. They have drained his passion for cooking, which becomes especially true when he realises that all they care about is the status they gain from eating at his restaurant, not even his food. In the end, he literally burns down his restaurant and everything he has worked for in his anger.

Even if it wasn’t intentional, the likeness is undeniable. The different characters of the restaurant sections definitely represent the seven deadly sins. If it was accidental, that would be even more of an extraordinary coincidence. Still, with something as meticulously planned out as The Menu, coincidence is highly doubtful.

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Tell us, have you discovered a deeper meaning to The Menu and the film’s characters?