The Menu star explains what Chef Slowik whispered to Tyler

The Menu is a black comedy about fine dining and toxic fandom, and one of the movie’s most memorable scenes revolves around unheard dialogue that star Nicholas Hoult eventually addressed.

The Menu received near universal acclaim when it hit screens in 2022, landing a Rotten Tomatoes score of 88%.

We loved moved the movie, calling it in “a cutting satire of foodie culture that has much to say about privilege, celebrity, and restaurants that charge the earth for plates of nonsense,” in our The Menu review.

Ralph Fiennes plays Chef Julian Slowik in the movie, who hosts a dinner that’s attended by super-fan Tyler Ledford, played by Nicholas Hoult. And a key scene between the pair has sparked much speculation. SPOILERS ahead…

Nicholas Hoult addresses mystery moment in The Menu

Searchlight Pictures

Tyler worships Slowik, while the chef has no time or respect for Tyler, only disdain. As tensions between the pair rise, Slowik forces Tyler to cook in front of his staff, humiliating him in the process.

The resulting meal is undercooked, inedible, and worst of all, lacks cohesion. “You are why the mystery has been drained from our art,” Slowik tells him. “You see that now, don’t you?”

Tyler responds with “Sorry chef,” and Slowik continues: “Come here son. Come here.”

Tyler leans in, and Slowik says something in his ear; words that are inaudible on the movie’s soundtrack, and subtitled as “indistinct whispering.” Meaning the audience has no idea what Chef Slowik has said, though the tears in Tyler’s eyes suggest his words aren’t positive.

Tyler walks away a broken man, removing his whites and tie as he departs. Moments later, his date Margot (Taylor-Joy) sees Tyler swinging from the kitchen ceiling, having just hanged himself.

While appearing on Jimmy Fallon’s talk show, Hoult addressed the sequence in question, saying “This has become one of my proudest moments because this image has kind-of become a meme, and I never expected to become a meme for this.”

But the big revelation is that Ralph Fiennes was ad-libbing. “It wasn’t scripted, what he whispers in my ear,” reveals Hoult. “Ralph is fantastic. He’s one of the greatest, and he would deliver different things in my ear, each time, [for different emotions].”

When asked what Fiennes whispered to to trigger the scared expression on his face, Hoult says: “You don’t want to know what he was saying.”

The Menu is currently streaming on Disney+ and Netflix. Head here to read about the Daniel Radcliffe joke that was cut from The Menu. Or for similar fare, check out our list of the best thrillers on Netflix.