History Characters / TheMenu

* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Their collection reaction to Slowik (a white guy) invoking the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. during his MotiveRant. Diaz incredulously asks them if Slowik ''really'' just did that, and they blandly confirm that he sure did.

The angel investor who funded Hawthorn.

* SophisticatedAsHell: While a SoftSpokenSadist for much of the film, he occasionally explodes into viciousness and profanity, particularly when Anne misidentifies the "rare spotted halibut" he served her and Richard as simple cod. He also explains that realizing that the food he so slaves over "turns instantly to shit inside a rich man's stomach" was a big factor in him hitting his DespairEventHorizon.

* ChefOfIron: Slowik's brigade of chefs are all individually capable in a fight, and the fact that they outnumber the guests (as well as an arsenal of very sharp knives) means there's no way any of the guests can fight their way out.

* BadBoss: As dedicated as Slowik's staff is to him, it's implied he's not really great to work for. In the "Fourth Course," he lectures his sous-chef and greatest apprentice Jeremy Louden about how he'll never reach his own level no matter how hard he tries until the latter is on the brink of tears before killing himself. In the "Fifth Course," his sous-chef Katherine Keller talks about how he sexually harassed her several times. He also treats Elsa quite poorly, despite her fanatical loyalty. It's notably quite petty that he mocks her for forgetting a barrel he asked for, except Elsa later remarks he ''didn't'' ask her to bring it (assuming she was telling the truth).

* {{Fingore}}: Before (or after) his death[[note]]When he's drowned, we never see his hands, so we don't know if it's pre- or post-mortem.[[/note]], he had his fingers chopped off as a part of the guests' gift bags.

* DerangedDance: As the staff prepares the final course you can see him dancing gleefully as he pours bottles of wine on the floor.

* DrowningMySorrows: The extreme case of it as she silently drinks bottle after bottle while the madness of the night goes through, without even caring. In the end, she is passed out and avoids being awake for the final course.

* YouWillBeSpared: [[spoiler:Julian allows her to leave Hawthorn with her life after she reminds him of the passion he used to have for cooking]].

* NeverMyFault: When the Memory dish comes up, the pictures printed on her tortillas are of restaurants that her reviews have caused to close down. She thinks it's weird and doesn't think of it again. When Chef reveals she's there ''because'' those reviews ruined so many livelihoods, she tries to justify herself but Chef won't let her speak.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther:Zig-zagged. Both he and Anne ask for the other to be freed, but when given the chance to run for it, he quickly leaves her behind, weakly promising to send help.

* DirtyOldMan: Even though he's married, he hired Erin for sexual services and [[spoiler:had her roleplay as his dead daughter]].

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther:Both she and Richard ask for the other to be freed.

* NiceToTheWaiter:A literal case, she's probably the one who's the most congenial to the kitchen staff, even thanking one of them when they [[spoiler:hand her her husband's wedding ring after they severed his finger.]]

* WomenAreWiser:Keeps a cooler head than her husband.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther:He and Felicity argue a lot towards the start of the movie, but as it progresses and it becomes obvious that they're going to die, they make it clear that they care about each other.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther:She and George argue a lot towards the start of the movie, but as it progresses and it becomes obvious that they're going to die, they make it clear that they care about each other.

* RageBreakingPoint: She noticeably loses her patience around Tyler when he belittles and orders her around. She finally breaks [[spoiler: after Slowik has Tyler confess he knew everyone in the restaurant was going to die and took her into the line of fire anyway.]] She screams out in a rage and punches him in the face.

* ComplexityAddiction: Starting from the fancy oyster composition served during the ride, he often goes on verbose monologues about haute cuisine and its deepest meanings, which only come off as pretentious and devoid of substance. For contrast, a professional critic like Lillian can use many flowery words here and there in her comments, but she still manages to point out the good and bad aspects of the courses. [[spoiler: This proves to be his truly fatal flaw, as his attempt at cooking something refined is an utter disaster, as he doesn't even know where to start. Had he settled for something simpler, he might have gained some sympathy from Julian and avoided a humiliating dress-down.]]

* HateSink: He is a pretentious food snob who is constantly demeaning and condescending towards Margot and her lack of investment in the dining experience, not to mention completely dissonant to the continually unfolding chaos and is only interested in the food and whether or not Chef Slowik respects him. It gets far worse when he's revealed [[spoiler: to have been completely aware of Slowik's intention with the Menu and hired Margot to be his guest since Hawthorn doesn't accept single-table reservations and his girlfriend broke up with him. Topping it all off, for all his food snobbery and pretentious posturing he's an absolutely DREADFUL cook who can barely even mince a shallot.]]

* LackOfEmpathy: [[spoiler: Despite not being the main antagonist, he displays a profound and quite chilling disregard to the other diners’ suffering and terror - especially Margot's, whose presence and ensuing mortal peril is entirely his fault]].

* SatelliteCharacter: Unlike guests such as Anne and Felicity, he has very little identity outside of his relationship with Lillian.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Zig-zagged. Both he and Anne ask for the other to be freed, but when given the chance to run for it, he quickly leaves her behind, weakly promising to send help.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Both she and Richard ask for the other to be freed.

* NiceToTheWaiter: A literal case, she's probably the one who's the most congenial to the kitchen staff, even thanking one of them when they [[spoiler: hand her her husband's wedding ring after they severed his finger.]]

* WomenAreWiser: Keeps a cooler head than her husband.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: He and Felicity argue a lot towards the start of the movie, but as it progresses and it becomes obvious that they're going to die, they make it clear that they care about each other.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: She and George argue a lot towards the start of the movie, but as it progresses and it becomes obvious that they're going to die, they make it clear that they care about each other.

* {{Cult}}: Their unyielding dedication to their art and ironclad loyalty to Slowik goes beyond the simple vigor of ardent craftsmen and into the territory of religious zealotry. [[spoiler: And that’s even before understanding that they’re quite willing to both kill and be killed to satisfy his vision, though the role Katherine plays muddles the waters, as she supposedly organized this event in response to Slowik’s abuse yet also slavishly complies to bringing about his death… along with her own. These are some odd folks, to say the least.]]

* CharacterTic: He claps his hands loudly to get the attention of the guests and his chefs. [[spoiler: Margot towards the final course copies his clap to get everyone's attention.]]
* CorruptedCharacterCopy: Julian Slowik is pretty much what would happen if Creator/GordonRamsay was corrupted by all of the negative elements of cooking he's dealt with as both began their lives as humble line cooks who later skyrocketed into becoming some of the most famous chefs in the world, but became jaded after seeing how other view their crafts. Gordon, however, was able to rise above this and while he's known for being harsh to others, it's because he wants them to succeed. Julian, on the other hand, became massively depressed over his fame and how people treated him and his craft, to the point where he [[spoiler: stages a MurderSuicide out of sheer rage over how the world views and treats him.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: The plot happens because Slowik has ''already crossed it'' before the movie started. Disillusioned with his craft after years of thankless toil combined with the latter half of his career being spent serving to rich, spoiled, and snobby elites who only ate at his restaurant for the ''prestige'' of it rather than to actually sate their hunger, not actually caring about what he cooked for them. It was at some point, in a deleted scene this moment is implied to be him trying to go back to his roots by working at a taco truck only to be found again and yanked back into the spotlight, that he finally crosses it, and decided he would commit a MurderSuicide by killing himself and his staff, along with everyone he saw as contributors to his crossing of it, the "Takers". And in true fashion of this trope [[spoiler: Margot/Erin asking him to cook a simple, ''real'' cheeseburger, and giving him a genuine compliment after tasting it; thus reminding him of his original passion, making him have TearsOfJoy and ''[[WhenHeSmiles genuinely smile]]'' for the first time in a long time...''[[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome this one moment of happiness isn't enough to change his mind after years of depression.]]'' He is ''still'' going to kill himself and everyone in the building. All it did was convince him that he was wrong: she really ''isn't'' a "Taker" like the rest of his guests, and so he lets her go before the final course.]]

* GreenEyedMonster: [[spoiler:Elsa attacks Margot in Slowik's house when she fears that he is going to replace her with Margot.]]

* ServileSnarker: Delivers increasingly threatening barbs to the guests while (mostly) retaining her professional persona.

* IdenticalStranger: She bears a passing resemblance to Julian's wife, possibly explaining why he made sexual advances on her.
* InappropriatePride: Take very much pride in [[spoiler: being the one that came up with the idea to kill everyone and in the last moments before the restaurant explodes you can clearly see her visibly excited that her idea is being executed. While the rest of the staff waits for the explosion motionless like it's part of the work, she smiles as she looks into the flame that is building up in the kitchen.]]

* SmallRoleBigImpact: [[spoiler: Nobody can say with certainty that they know the entire truth, but if Katherine is right, she’s both directly and indirectly responsible for orchestrating the night of culinary bloodshed, yet for the most part plays the role of another of Julian’s fanatical followers.]]

* OnlyALighter: His gun is actually a lighter.