From the very beginning, Margot shows that she has a true appreciation for food that the wealthier clients have lost in the spectacle. She mentions she enjoys just a simple oyster instead of oysters with all the show, showing that her palate isn’t the issue, the loveless, over-the-top food is.
On the way in, goats walk alongside the diners. Someone briefly says something about how "back in the day...". They're probably alluding to the tradition of Judas Goats, where a goat (that was calm because it had walked through before, and would again ) would join animals heading to the slaughter, so they wouldn't panic. This is also, quite blatantly, exactly what's happening (the guests have no idea what's about to happen, etc).
Tyler mentions at the beginning of the film that smoking ruins your palate, and you can’t properly taste the food. Later, during the "Men's Folly" course, Lillian smokes a cigarette from her own pack, revealing her to be a habitual smoker. This hints that she might not be a good critic, as her palate wouldn’t be "clean" and thus could’ve reviewed other restaurants poorly and unfairly.
Tyler's desperation to get Slowik's approval seems excessive, even for a foodie like him, particularly one that seems well-off. But he knows they will all die at the end of the dinner, meaning he knows that will be the only chances he gets.
The Reveal that Margot is actually a prostitute has an extra layer to it. She's not just a prostitute, but a high-end escort, which is likely why Tyler hired her for a non-sexual activity. Many escorts offer services like simply going on dates, or talking. And later it's revealed that the wealthy old man that clearly knows her hired her, essentially confirming that she has a generally wealthy clientele. This makes Margot even more similar to Julian, as like him, she has become very successful with her career, but no longer enjoys it precisely because of how different wealthier clients are.
Also adds layers to her final request of Julian, to make her a cheeseburger. The job of a prostitute is to not only indulge in the client's fantasies, but pretend to enthusiastically enjoy them and raise their confidence. All Julian wanted to do was flip one last burger, something that brought him infinitely more joy than eating a cheeseburger would bring to Margot. Her request could be seen as servicing him in a non-sexual way, proving that she’s a 'giver' who understands her client's desires and is able to indulge them masterfully. This, coupled with her speech about his dinner service being a pretentious affair that no one actually enjoys, could have made Julian realize that he had become a 'taker' a long time ago.
Early on in the movie, Tyler makes a comment about how popular girls wouldn't go to prom with him. It seems like the standard nerd stereotype, with the implication that it's either a case of Hollywood Homely or that Tyler got better growing up. As the movie goes on, it becomes clear that the real issue is that he is a self-centered creep. The line also becomes quite ironic, since he is saying that to the girl he had to pay for company, since no one else would join him.
Tyler worries Julian doesn't like him, to which Margot tells him it doesn't matter; Tyler is paying Julian for an experience and his feelings towards Tyler are of no importance. It later turns out Margot is an escort – somebody who is paid for an experience, and her feelings towards her clients are of no importance.
Tyler insults Margot and when she tells him to mind himself, he says he doesn't need to because he is paying. She gets up and looks like she wants to leave, but ultimately doesn't because he just reminded her he is paying for her to be there, not just for her dinner.
The line cook pretending to be a Coast Guard has a different layer - he was there the whole evening, in the same room with everybody, yet the guests did not recognize him as staff. Because staff is invisible to them.
In fact, he was literally standing at the door for most of the evening, playing as a guard and server. And he was in the background while Richard's finger was cut off, ready to jump in and assist, while the other two servers held the victim still and did the cutting. On rewatch, you can notice line cooks changing places with doormen/servers from time to time.
He's even visible at the door as Slowik is giving his "don't give the game away or he'll die" speech, allegedly being stalled by the doorman but well within hearing range. If he were a real coast guard he'd have heard every word.
If the guests decided to ditch the dinner and just run without fighting the kitchen crew, he was literally the first and last obstacle to their freedom. Yet the guests didn't even bother noticing his face. And if you look closely, it is not even a good disguise, he put on a jacket, a hat and badly sewn slightly modified reflective vest. On the other hand, the disguise didn't have to be perfect, and restaurant etiquette would help with that: clothes make the man. You won't treat someone dressed as a chef as a waiter and vice versa. As any magician would tell you, the human mind is lazy and likes taking shortcuts and jumping to conclusions. Someone standing behind the bar is a barman, not a security, and that's a reasonable assumption to make.
The precaution of having a rigged radio in Julian's cabin just in case one of the guests made it there and tried to call for help makes a lot of sense when one remembers that one of the evening's courses involved setting all the male guests loose on the island to be hunted down by the staff. It was entirely possible one of them might've tried going for Julian's cabin and call for help from the mainland.
Julian is furious with Tyler for bringing Margot instead of the woman announced. Of course he is. He hates substitutions with a passion.
Alongside the appeal to Julian's former passion for cooking, Margot being allowed to live might be seen as a successful case of Loophole Abuse; the various courses are all taken seriously by the restaurant staff and seen through to their end. Margot asking to get her food to go signals that she intends to finish eating it, so her "course" can’t be completed if she isn’t allowed (literally) to go.
The last course is everyone still in the restaurant getting their... just desserts.
It seems weird that someone who idolizes Julian as much as Tyler does would risk pissing him off by taking photos of the food despite being told not to, but this is actually a clever bit of foreshadowing towards Tyler's real personality. Of course someone as cruel, selfish, and uncaring as him wouldn't adhere to even a simple and reasonable request from a service worker! It's the same reason he talks down to Margot and later snaps at her like she's a dog; to him, an escort like her is unworthy of basic respect, even if he thinks highly of her beauty and "coolness."
What Julian does to Jeremy is called "tearing down" or "facing the community" and is something cults regularly do, both to break individual recruits and to increase group cohesion. The idea is that a cult member should stand alone in front of everyone else while they list the cultist's perceived (or even imaginary) faults. The end result is erosion of ego and complete willingness to follow orders as not to be punished that way again, because every other cult member joins in, even those the victim considers to be their friends. It is doubly effective when a cult leader joins in, which is what Slowik is and does. Militaries often do the same only they "rebuild" the recruit afterwards. In addition with the complete lack of privacy, small food portions decided by Slowik (he says the menu is designed that guests never feel full at any point) and lack of sleep, the staff is thoroughly brainwashed.
George cheerfully admits Calling Dr. Sunshine was a terrible movie, but he doesn't regret it, saying that shooting it was really fun, and doesn't seem to mind being known for it. This makes him a great parallel to Julian, who makes beautiful art but hates every minute of it, and deeply resents his work and customers. George may have made a lousy piece of art, but he enjoyed himself while doing it, which in a way, makes Calling Dr. Sunshine more meaningful than Julian's soulless cooking.
Julian's guest books end with 2019, he doesn't have any for the next three years. It makes sense that he stopped having guests during the pandemic, and it is hinted he started to invite guests himself afterwards, rather than taking reservations.
Margot's cheeseburger scene and her final interactions with Julian that cemented his decision to let her live:
First, while every other course is made by his sous chefs, this is the only food Julian actually cooks himself. Despite being the simplest dish shown in the movie, it shows Julian's true passion is not in innovative, "artistic" cuisine but simply cooking something he knows will make people happy.
Margot asks how much her burger and fries were before ordering, like a normal person. It shows Julian that she understands the dinner is a simple transaction, as opposed to using it for entertainment or clout.
Margot's compliment is a simple "That is a cheeseburger." Tyler and Lilian talk about food with flowery but hollow descriptions in a way that's more about showing off how cultured they think are, but Margot's simple description is a pure, sincere statement of approval.
Finally, Margot pays for her meal with a crumpled ten-dollar bill whereas everyone else pulls out a credit card. While credit cards are convenient, it burdens restaurants with processing fees, and Ted even insists on using the corporate card given by his employer, an insult to Julian's cooking that he doesn't think highly enough of it to pay for it himself.
I mean, that's all well and good, but the guests are also paying two-thousand dollar bills, rather than just ten, so good luck paying that in cash.
Lillian's nitpicking leading to successively larger bowls of "broken" emulsion makes sense when her career is kept in mind. With her overly-harsh perfectionism, that thimble-sized spot of emulsion would have likely taken up a full paragraph in her review, since many critics have habits of blowing tiny faults out of proportion. Bare minutes after pointing it out, she receives a soup bowl filled with the same emulsion, and later receives an even larger mixing bowl of the stuff, turning an overly-picky complaint into an ever-escalating torment. This would have received an even larger payoff in a scene that was cut, in which she is literally waterboarded with the emulsion.
Each of the pre-planned courses *everything excluding Tyler's Bullshit and the Cheeseburger either foreshadows the guests fates or further insults them in hidden ways. These observations are taken from Doctor Canon's video on the film. In order:
Oyster and Lemon Mignonette: Though this isn't an uncommon combination, the version in the film has been broken down and deconstructed, which is what will happen to the guests for the rest of the night.
The Amuse-Bouche: The cucumber melon pieces are the guests. The charred lace is a crater, and it's lightly dusted with the milk snow, representing ash.
The Island: A vulnerable, squishy scallop on a harsh, unforgiving rock.
Breadless Bread Plate: A blatant insult to picky customers.
Chicken Tacos: A more obvious one, with the insults plainly spelled out on the tortillas.
The Mess: Pressure-cooked vegetables to represent how much pressure Jeremy had been under. In addition, the Bone Marrow, Beef Jus, and Potato Confit are culinary equivalents of blood, sweat, and tears, respectively.
Men's Folly: The men run for their lives and leave their female counterparts behind to save their own skin without hesitation. The women are treated to a dish of dungeness crab, whey, sea lettuce, umeboshi, and kelp. Whey and umeboshi are vital ingredients in yogurt and plum vinegar, and sea lettuce and kelp maintain the biome of the ocean, yet these ingredients are often left out of larger dishes for being sour, unattractive, or difficult to work with. Meanwhile, when these descriptors are applied to real-life women, they are often referred to as bottom feeders, much like the dungeness crab.
The Special Bite: A candied Passard egg, made from a chicken egg, after the men ran like chickens. Bonus points to the recipient of this dish, Ted, literally hiding in a chicken coop.
Dessert: As mentioned earlier, the guests are literally getting their just desserts.
Even in this train of thought, however, the two unplanned courses manage to showcase the personalities and fates of those involved shortly before they take place, and are both bound by similar but different conclusions that they are unfit to be on The Menu. Tyler's Bullshit is flat out inedible not just because it tastes bad, but the raw lamb and unwashed leeks make it toxic to ingest, and as a result he's flat out excluded from Dessert through his own inability to confront his flaws because he managed to be more spoiled rotten than the chef expected. Margot's Cheeseburger, meanwhile, is simple and heartfelt, and most importantly ordered to go as she manages to convince Julian to let her go. While it's typically seen as too "low class" to put on a menu at a fine dining restaurant, another trait of more local burger-centric restaurants tends to be accepting "off menu" requests so long as they stay within reason, and what's more reasonable than asking a former line cook to make a simple cheeseburger with no fancy gimmicks?
Slowik's Multiple-Choice Past moments may seem confusing, but consider his clientele. Mentioning a childhood in Europe plays to their ideas that foreign cuisine and culinary tradition are higher-class to American dining elites. Conversely, the story of a childhood of abuse and neglect that resulted in a premier chef can make these same elite diners feel they're patrons to a true self-made man. Regardless of which is true, note that no one but Erin seems to recognize the incongruent nature of the stories. That's because the diners are still paying for the "experience", and could care less about who Slowik really is.
Margot's name, specifically the fact that it isn't her name. Even on this wiki (Spoilers aside) she is constantly referred to as the name she adopted for the night, and not her given name. Another aspect of the service industry? People never really knowing the real you.
Tyler desperately wants to get the approval of Julian yet risks his ire by taking photos of the food in spite of Julian's express prohibition. But it's later revealed that Tyler knows he's going to be killed at the end of the meal, so he should know that he's never going to be able to show those photos to anyone or even look at them again. Tyler is just that delusional.
Tyler eventually confesses that he hired Margot as his plus one because his previous girlfriend broke up with him shortly before the events of the movie, and Slowik wouldn't allow reservations for one. Imagine the horror said ex must have felt when she heard about what happened at Hawthorn and realized how narrowly she avoided being killed with the rest of the guests, all in the name of Tyler's slavish pretensions.
Despite their statuses as snobbish wealthy people, most of the guests must have families who care about them (Felicity's cared enough to pay for her college at an Ivy League school). Imagine their horror and grief when they learn how their loved ones died.
The same goes for the families of the staff who will likely get questioned by the authorities, hounded by the press and blamed by the victim's families and the public for why they didn't notice anything was wrong or didn't do anything to stop it.
Any parent or loved one to the staff members would raise a large red flag as soon as they knew about the living conditions and working hours, and even the U.S. government and Food authority would have intervened.
Tyler's ex-girlfriend will get questioned how much she knew about the plans for this evening, if she broke up with him because of it, and why she didn't do anything to warn people. Knowing True-Crime Podcasts, she'll probably be hounded forever.
Previous customers may also come under scrutiny. If they all got the same tour as the final group did, then they should've noticed the same red flags and didn't report it.
The reputations of Hawthorn's local suppliers could take a hit as well for being associated with a restaurant that burned to the ground and took everyone with them.
Margot killing Elsa. The whole kitchen was in on the Coast Guard "joke", but obviously they forgot to tell Elsa that Margot (or possibly any other guest, since she wasn't supposed to be there in the first place) was supposed to break into Julian's house, and she became jealous, leading to her death. Notably, Julian doesn't seem to miss his maître d' or wonder why Margot is covered in blood.
Richard is paying prostitutes to pretend to be his daughter. His daughter is dead – what are the chances he abused his daughter and has to pay prostitutes because he doesn't have access to the real person anymore?
Also, what are the chances that, more specifically, he sexually abused his daughter, and that abuse was what led to her death?
Tyler might actually have saved everybody had he revealed at any point he and her former girlfriend broke up, or at the very least delayed it, due to Slowik's obsession over details. And he likely somewhat realized it and avoided telling Slowik precisely to avoid that.
on the film. In order: