The Taste of Things airs on France 4 on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at 9 p.m. Trần Anh Hùng brings together Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel in a story in which preparing meals accompanies a romantic relationship. The director won the Best Director award at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival for this film, released in France on November 8, 2023.
Eugénie has been cooking for the gourmand Dodin for twenty years. They share their work and their love of good food, but she is determined to keep her freedom and refuses to marry him. Dodin then decides to turn their routine on its head by cooking for her himself.
In our review published when the film was released in theaters, we wrote:
There is always something intriguing about discovering a French film by a director from another culture (Trần Anh Hùng is French-Vietnamese). They are often one-of-a-kind works, as is The Taste of Things. From its opening sequence, the film captivates with the poetry and generosity of its direction. Over the course of some fifteen minutes of flawless choreography, Eugénie and Dodin prepare a feast of Homeric proportions. The sequence brims with passion and, surely… works up an appetite!
Food is therefore at the heart of the Vietnamese director Trần Anh Hùng’s new film. You could even say it is the main character. Eugénie and Dodin revolve around it, living in a château where meals set the rhythm of daily life, and where a charming flirtation develops between the two.
The kitchen scenes are staged ecstatically, filmed like a masterpiece of craftsmanship. Food lovers will be delighted! Every ingredient is filmed like a precious artifact, and Binoche and Magimel’s characters convey so much love through food.
The direction is simple, yet highly evocative and rich in detail. This is sensory cinema that leaves no one unmoved. The textures, the sounds of food being cut with a fine-bladed knife. Tremendous care has gone into the sound design. It is amusing to see that the direction is as meticulous as Dodin’s cooking. The Best Director award is thoroughly deserved!
Nevertheless, you can sense that Trần Anh Hùng sometimes struggles to direct his actors, whose performances are not always convincing, but the journey is almost mystical, for the characters and the audience alike. You almost want to ask for seconds!
Review by Nathanaël
For more to watch, check out our picks of films, series and shows on TV this week, our guide to new releases across all platforms, and today’s picks in What to watch on streaming today.
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