In 1885, peerless cook Eugenie (Juliette Binoche) has worked for the famous gourmet Dodin (Benoît Magimel) for the last 20 years. As time went by, the practice of gastronomy and mutual admiration turned into a romantic relationship. Their association gives rise to dishes, one more delicious than the next, that confound even the world’s most illustrious chefs. But Eugenie is fond of her freedom and has never wanted to marry Dodin. So, he decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her. 2023, France, 135 minutes, French with English subtitles.
“If Tran Anh Hung’s luminous period romance The Taste of Things had been released in 1985, it would have played for six months straight at your local arthouse cinema. Not that the film is a throwback; it’s simply blissfully restorative, a movie that gives you back something you didn’t realize you’d lost, one that might even make you forget what year you’re living in. Its pleasures run quiet and deep.” – TIME
“One of 2023′s best films, “The Taste of Things” is achingly romantic and devastatingly sad. You’ll spend the first two-thirds of this movie salivating, and the last third of it sobbing. The final scene is like dunking your face in a bowl of chopped onions. You won’t regret a single moment. And, of course, you’ll leave hungry.” – Boston Globe
“And then, of course, there are the true artists, the chef and the cook. For them, the culinary arts are the highest expression of humanity because they are a product of everything that makes us human: time and attention, every sense, every sensation and, in the end, it’s entirely fleeting. Every good meal is a memory.” – The New York Times
