MovieChat Forums > The Menu (2022) Discussion > The Burger Bun - Massive Plot Hole?

The Burger Bun - Massive Plot Hole?

posted a year ago by FootOfDavros (8140)
34 replies | jump to latest

I appreciate they said they had, and could make, anything there. But I took that to mean from the abundant fresh meat / vegetable produce that they had at had at hand.

Is it really plausible though - on their predetermined last night of service and at such a high end yet inaccessible establishment that they'd just have some bog standard burger buns lying around in that kitchen?

Now "Chef probably cries himself to sleep every night after making himself a burger!" you may cry, and you may well be right. But we saw no exit and return from retrieving buns from his personal abode...

Nor did we see any bakery style preparation of the bun either. Not that that wouldn't have been ridiculous and taken too long anyway...

Thus we are left with no other option but to question exactly how that magical burger bun got there and whether it, in itself, constitutes a MASSIVE plot hole for this film?

Given the woman who requested it wasn't even supposed to be there and given the 0% chance none of the other diners would have requested a burger either, I think we have to conclude a resounding yes.

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[–] [deleted] a year ago

[deleted]

[–] FootOfDavros (8140) a year ago

Thanks very much for your kind words... Indeed if life were in fact a movie we could consider such an anomaly a plot hole...

However, in the context of the movie, and it's very real, central status to the actual plot (! Amusing as sometimes the use of "plot hole" is "overdone" (to use cooking parlance!) but here, in this case, it's a key part of the story) how would you account for that burger bun being there?

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[–] Heisenberg (6730) a year ago

Yes, it is a plot hole.

although...
I coincidentally just watched a reality show about restaurants. In one of the kitchen inspections, the tv host found a side fridge loaded with junk food and pre packaged ready meals. The owner of the restaurant explaind that that was the staff's fridge, used only for their meals.
So, maybe it is common for restaurateurs to feed their client top food, while at the same time they eat crappy food themselves like most people do.
Hence in the movie, in that staff side stash, maybe somebody had a burger bun.

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[–] FootOfDavros (8140) a year ago

Funny, I was just thinking of this as a possibility...

Although, in this particular case, given Chef's particularly high standards, the pretentiousness of the entire endeavour, and his revealed very strong association with that particular dish, I'm not sure he'd have even employed staff who'd be munching away on burgers in his kitchen.

But, yes, I guess it is worthy of consideration.

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[–] parkerbot (8993) a year ago

Assuming there was no bun at hand, if you knew what you were doing, what's to say you couldn't make a bun from scratch in 30 minutes?

My better half, who makes bread etc said she could do it. If she can, a master chef could.

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[–] FootOfDavros (8140) a year ago

You may be correct, in terms of being able to make it in 30 mins, but as per the OP:-

Nor did we see any bakery style preparation of the bun either. Not that that wouldn't have been ridiculous and taken too long anyway...

So maybe 30 mins would have possible to cook one, although I suppose cooling time as well? (as he wouldn't have served it to her in anything less than perfect state) but we didn't see any of that.

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[–] parkerbot (8993) a year ago

To get to your plot hole you're assuming there was no bun (despite it being a restaurant that normally served bread) and that making a bun wasn't possible because it wasn't shown on film - that's not a plot hole if you ask me.

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[–] FootOfDavros (8140) a year ago

...despite it being a restaurant that normally served bread...

Well, as I said in the OP, this was a very high end restaurant. I think it's safe to assume they weren't serving burger and chips on an ordinary basis...

In fact, I'd even go as far as to say, it loses sight of the outcome of the film, and how she managed to escape, to fail to see how unlikely a burger bun was likely to be in that particular kitchen.

But regardless, I was curious enough to rewatch how that scene played out and although, as you mentioned, a bun being made wasn't shown, making the burger certainly was.

We see him fashioning the ground beef into patties and what do we see at the side and all ready to go before he even starts cooking the burgers?

That's right, a ready to go burger bun...

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[–] parkerbot (8993) a year ago

I think you're seeing things that are not there for some reason.

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[–] FootOfDavros (8140) a year ago

Well okay. But given I just explained that we see the burger bun at the beginning of his cooking process, I'd have to argue the converse, i.e:-

I think you're not seeing things that are there for some reason!

But each to their own - if not accepting this as a plot hole helps you enjoy the film more, good on you 👍

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[–] parkerbot (8993) a year ago

Do you think there's a problem with a fancy restaurant having cheese slices?

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[–] FootOfDavros (8140) a year ago

Possibly.

But we didn't see that for sure, i.e. cheese "slices". Just that it was American cheese she requested.

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[–] The_Rev (315) a year ago

I think, given that the staff lived on the property, they'd have access to all manner of "common" food items, like burger buns. I doubt the staff eat their own menu on a daily basis. I mean, remember how much the meal costs? It's for the rich. Ordinary people don't pay 15k for one meal. And it's not just "the experience" that the customers are paying for. So a lot of that money goes to overhead for the staff.

Plus, it would be more economical for the staff to be eating "normal" food, aside from the bits and pieces kitchen staff normally get while cooking, than the stuff that costs 15k/meal... So it's not a plot hole. They should have plenty of cheap, common food on the premises.

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[–] FootOfDavros (8140) a year ago

Someone already raised that point above. It is a possibility I guess but as I said:-

Although, in this particular case, given Chef's particularly high standards, the pretentiousness of the entire endeavour, and his revealed very strong association with that particular dish, I'm not sure he'd have even employed staff who'd be munching away on burgers in his kitchen.

Depending upon how seriously you take the film, the chef's character and psychological reveal associated with common burgers, I think it's a fair question.

Plus, we also saw that chef had his own separate kitchen for personal requirements. I'm not sure, we can believe given that, that he'd have the staff "contaminating" the actual fine dining kitchen with low quality products. Again, possibly this also buys into how seriously you take the film's study of chef's character.

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[–] Zarkoff (1853) a month ago

I think you misunderstood the character of the chef, possibly. He despised the pretentiousness of his guests. I don't think he would have had a problem with his staff having simple food, occasionally. I think he probably had it himself from time to time.

Also, I don't know much about the world of that kind of elite food and dining, but based on some interviews I've seen with chefs, they don't eat fancy food all the time. I doubt chef from the movie does either.

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[–] FootOfDavros (8140) a month ago

Well I don't disagree re the nature of the chef himself - I even said in the OP that he may very well be crying himself to sleep with a burger in his personal quarters every night.

As to the staff aspect, I already addressed that in a reply further up the thread...

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[–] Zarkoff (1853) a month ago

You did say that. You also think he's such a food snob he wouldn't allow his staff to munch away on burgers in his kitchen. I just don't see that he'd feel like that when he can see the value of food like a good burger. Even though he takes food seriously, he didn't seem to care much for that kind of snobbery. I mean, for his final meal he murders some of his most pretentious customers!

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[–] FootOfDavros (8140) a month ago

He was a food snob. That was literally the main point of the movie. He had become something he hated...

He didn't absolve himself from the fate of his pretentious customers.

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[–] Zarkoff (1853) a month ago

Yes, he was a food snob himself, but even you admit he can appreciate the value of a cheeseburger. I don't think he killed himself along with the customers because he thought he was just like them. Why would he judge them so harshly for it if he thought the same way? He hated them because the food didn't really matter to them. He was tired of making food for people who didn't appreciate it, including the food critics.

He could have killed himself for a variety of reasons, like not wanting to spend life in prison for murder, depression. I don't think it was for the reason you do. He had other reasons for hating himself.

He doesn't decide to free Margot until she asks for a cheeseburger and gives a speech about the simple pleasure of eating a good meal.

Anyway, (most importantly, I think) I don't agree that something like that really qualifies as a huge plot hole. It comes down to your interpretation of the chef's character, which is obviously very subjective.

And as others have pointed out, staff could have had buns on the island. We don't see anyone get the buns somewhere, maybe not even in the kitchen which you don't think the chef would allow to be violated by the presence of a burger bun, but then we don't see them get the ground beef out of the freezer either. Not showing it on camera doesn't mean it couldn't have happened.

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[–] The_Rev (315) a month ago

But they all LIVE there, remember? So there's a crew quarters (which we saw) and obviously there's a crew kitchen... Just because we don't see it, doesn't mean it's not there. Hell, Chef had his own kitchen, making there at least 2 different kitchens on the property... Not too much of a stretch to believe there's a 3rd where the crew eat. And I doubt Slowik would care what they eat on their off time.

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[–] FootOfDavros (8140) a month ago

That's one impressive delayed reply!

I'd say a couple of things though,

1. You just ignored what I said in my reply to you re given pretentiousness of the entire endeavour and chef's character, if he'd be employing such people. Sure, you're free to disagree, but another aspect of this film that chooses to ignore is the cult-ish nature of the staff. They have literally bought into his philosophy with their lives and yet you'd have them sloping off behind the bike sheds after their shifts end to puff away on cigarettes and chomp on burgers...

Again, totally fine if you want to believe that 👍.

2. As I already pointed out in the OP:-

Now "Chef probably cries himself to sleep every night after making himself a burger!" you may cry, and you may well be right. But we saw no exit and return from retrieving buns from his personal abode...

If you want even more kitchens were the staff are that's also fine but same point applies. We saw no exit to retrieve any buns. He gets the ground beef to make the burger but the bun is already sat there ready to go...

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[–] Zarkoff (1853) a month ago

O agree. Not a plot hole at all. Some in the staff might have liked the occasional burger or chicken sandwich that needed a bun.

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[–] beauq81 (1085) 10 months ago

In a hot air oven, it takes about 5 minutes to bake a bun. Given that this is a professional kitchen, it is likely that they already have some fermented dough on stand-by. If not, baking powder does the trick. Takes about 10-15 minutes for a skilled baker in a professional kitchen to make a quick bun.

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[–] BeenSavage (631) 13 days ago

This ^^. As a (home) baker, I can attest.

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[–] beauq81 (1085) 13 days ago

As a (home) baker, I wrote. :)

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[–] BeenSavage (631) 13 days ago

🤝

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[–] howgamer (3929) a month ago

Perhaps they had buns left over from a previous meal? The staff live on the island.

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[–] Kowalski (75520) a month ago

BURGER BUN....LOL

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[–] bounce (76) 14 days ago

then again - why not. Chef was gonna die. why wouldn't there be anything and everything in the place - it doesn't matter that it would have been there to be wasted/never used.

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