Plot
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 Feldman, wealthy regulars Richard and Anne Liebrandt, washed-up movie star George Diaz and his personal assistant Felicity Lynn, business partners Soren, Dave, and Bryce, who work for Slowik's angel investor Doug Verrick, 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. Sous-chef Jeremy Louden kills himself at the start of the fourth course, and when Richard tries to leave, the staff cuts off his finger as a warning to the others. Unhappy with 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 male guests are given the chance to escape the island, with Slowik's staff catching them all; Ted, the last to be caught, is given a Passard egg dish as a reward.
Slowik explains that the guests were invited because they have either caused him to lose his passion for his craft or exploited food artisans like himself, and states all will be dead by the night's end. 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. Invited to cook by Slowik, Tyler hastily creates an unflattering dish that fails to live up to his pretensions. Slowik humiliates him and whispers in his ear, causing a deflated and defeated Tyler to leave the kitchen.
Slowik sends Margot to the smokehouse to retrieve a barrel needed for dessert, but finds Tyler, who hanged himself out of embarrassment. Sneaking into Slowik's living quarters, Margot is attacked by a jealous Elsa, fearing Margot will replace her, resulting in a struggle where Margot fatally stabs Elsa. Margot notices a framed employee of the month award showing a young and happy Slowik cooking hamburgers. She finds a radio and calls 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 one of Slowik's cooks in disguise. Concocting a plan, Margot accuses Slowik of cooking from obsession rather than a love of food. She complains that the course was not to her liking and she is still hungry. She requests a simple cheeseburger and french fries, which Slowik finds joy in personally preparing. After enjoying one bite, Margot asks to take her food "to go". Slowik boxes it, gives her a gift bag, and allows her to leave.
For the s'mores-inspired dessert course, the staff decorates 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 himself, the staff and the guests. 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.
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