A Glean movie guide
Culinary Cinema: The Best Movies for Foodies
A feast for the eyes.
From high-pressure professional kitchens to the soul-warming magic of home cooking.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Taste of Things
A breathtakingly sensory celebration of 19th-century French gastronomy and the artistry of culinary collaboration.
Set in 1889 France, Dodin Bouffant is a chef living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie. They share a long history of gastronomy and love but Eugénie refuses to marry Dodin, so the food lover decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her.
- 02
Chef
A vibrant, feel-good journey about rediscovering creative passion through the freedom of a food truck business.
When Chef Carl Casper suddenly quits his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its controlling owner, he is left to figure out what's next. Finding himself in Miami, he teams up with his ex-wife, his friend and his son to launch a food truck. Taking to the road, Chef Carl goes back to his roots to reignite his passion for the kitchen -- and zest for life and love.
- 03
Ratatouille
A charming masterpiece that explores the professional French kitchen hierarchy and the idea that anyone can cook.
Remy, a resident of Paris, has quite a sophisticated palate. He would love to become a chef so he can create and enjoy culinary masterpieces to his heart's delight. The only problem is, Remy is a rat. When he winds up in the sewer beneath one of Paris' finest restaurants, Remy finds himself ideally placed to realize his dream. He forms an unusual alliance with the restaurants rookie employee, and together they work through challenges stemming from Head Chef Skinner, Remy’s colony, and renowned food critic Anton Ego, who strikes fear in the hearts of chefs all throughout France.
- 04
Tampopo
A quirky and sensual cult classic that explores the deep, obsessive craft required to make the perfect bowl of ramen.
In this humorous paean to the joys of food, a pair of truck drivers happen onto a decrepit roadside shop selling ramen noodles. The widowed owner, Tampopo, begs them to help her turn her establishment into a paragon of the "art of noodle-soup making". Interspersed are satirical vignettes about the importance of food to different aspects of human life.
- 05
Big Night
A poignant look at the struggle between artistic culinary integrity and commercial success in an Italian kitchen.
Primo and Secondo, two immigrant brothers, pin their hopes on a banquet honoring Louis Prima to save their struggling restaurant.
- 06
The Lunchbox
A tender romance built on the flavors of home-cooked meals delivered through Mumbai’s intricate lunchbox system.
A mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system (Mumbai's Dabbawallahs) connects a young housewife to a stranger in the dusk of his life. They build a fantasy world together through notes in the lunchbox. Gradually, this fantasy threatens to overwhelm their reality.
- 07
Eat Drink Man Woman
An elegant exploration of family dynamics told through the elaborate Sunday feasts prepared by a master chef.
Retired and widowed Chinese master chef Chu lives in modern day Taipei, with his three attractive daughters, all of whom are unattached. Soon, each daughter encounters a new man in their lives. When these new relationships blossom, stereotypes are broken and the living situation within the family changes.
- 08
Babette's Feast
A beautiful testament to the transformative power of a single, meticulously prepared meal in a remote village.
A French housekeeper with a mysterious past brings quiet revolution in the form of one exquisite meal to a circle of starkly pious villagers in late 19th century Denmark.
- 09
Boiling Point
A relentless, single-take dive into the high-stakes pressure and logistics of a professional kitchen on its busiest night.
A head chef balances multiple personal and professional crises at a popular restaurant in London.
- 10
Julie & Julia
A delightful parallel story of modern home cooking and Julia Child’s legendary journey into French cuisine.
Julia Child and Julie Powell – both of whom wrote memoirs – find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends... until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.
- 11
The Menu
A sharp, dark satire of fine-dining culture that turns a multi-course meal into a high-stakes thriller.
A young couple travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.
- 12
Like Water for Chocolate
A lush, magical-realist tale where a cook’s deepest emotions are literally infused into her traditional Mexican recipes.
Tita is passionately in love with Pedro, but her controlling mother forbids her from marrying him. When Pedro marries her sister, Tita throws herself into her cooking and discovers she can transfer her emotions through the food she prepares, infecting all who eat it with her intense heartbreak.