Maybe you’re alone on Valentine’s Day, maybe you’re coupled up with your sweetheart, maybe you’re hanging out on a first date … which is kinda crazy, but you do you.
Whatever the case, it’s Valentine’s Day, and you need a movie to watch. But what’s the perfect pick?
The Taste of Things is a French movie streaming on Hulu about a cook (Juliette Binoche) and her boss (Benoît Magimel), who have loved one another for many years, and it’ll leave you in tears in the best way. It also boasts an impressive 97 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Watch With Us breaks down why The Taste of Things is a romance story for the ages.
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The Chemistry Between the 2 Leads Is More Real Than You Know
Set in 19th century France, The Taste of Things centers on Eugenie (Binoche) and Dodin (Magimel), who have been in one another’s lives for many years. Eugenie has worked for Dodin as a cook, with Dodin as her devoted gourmet who delights in all of her culinary artistry. Together, they remain romantically entangled while sleeping in separate bedrooms, never officially making their love public. Instead, they publicly express their adoration for one another through cooking, Dodin devouring Eugenie’s sumptuous meals, Eugenie crafting her dishes with a type of care and intimacy that feels even more intense than lovemaking.
Binoche and Magimel are so wonderfully matched — quiet fire bursts forth from the screen when they’re in the room together — that it might seem as if they should try pairing up in real life. In fact, they had: they were in a relationship for five years, and they share a daughter together. Although they hadn’t spoken much in the decades since their breakup, the affection the actors still have for one another — through platonic respect, through the love they once shared — is palpable, and adds a rich emotional layer to an already heartrending love story. Twenty years after breaking up, working together allowed the actors to remember why they fell for each other.
In Addition to Being Romantic, ‘The Taste of Things’ Will Also Make You Really Hungry
The Taste of Things isn’t just a fantastic movie for lovers on Valentine’s Day — it’s also fantastic viewing for food lovers. Parallel to the scenes of open affection between Eugenie and Dodin are the moments of decadent, meticulous cooking. The opening scene of the film is a 38-minute-long sequence in which the camera effortlessly floats around Dodin’s kitchen as Eugenie prepares a meal for him. Liquid simmers, oils crackle, utensils clatter. The sound design is so lush and immersive, you might swear that you could taste the food that’s being prepared on the screen. The Taste of Things will have you hungry for things that don’t even seem that appetizing, like pot-au-feu (a French dish of boiled meat and potatoes), just from how textured the visuals are.
And in a scene in which eroticism and culinary arts combine, Dodin flips the tables and prepares a meal for Eugenie, an act of appreciation for the artist whose work he has admired and indulged in for so long. At the end of the intricate meal, Dodin presents Eugenie with a dessert that hides within it an engagement ring and includes a poached pear, the silhouette of which the film’s editor cleverly cuts to that of Eugenie’s naked body in the next scene. The Taste of Things understands that the two most beautiful things in the world are love and food.
The Ending Is Tragic, But the Love Is Eternal
After Dodin presents Eugenie with the engagement ring, the two long-time lovers finally agree to get married, settling on a wedding for the fall. But Eugenie’s health had been a frequent cause for concern in the months leading up to the engagement — odd illnesses and fainting spells that the committed cook was quick to brush off. Some time after Eugenie and Dodin get engaged and host a summer party for their friends, Dodin wakes up one morning to find that Eugenie has died in her sleep. His lover and partner is gone, and he never got to call her his wife. But he got to spend almost his entire life with her nonetheless.
That’s why, despite the fact that The Taste of Things ends on such a tragic note, it’s a gorgeous testament to the precarious nature of life and the importance of letting the people you love know that you love them. Eugenie and Dodin were never married, but their romance was deep, passionate and devoted, and Eugenie not only knew how much Dodin loved her, but she also knew how much he respected her. That’s the ideal relationship, built on a foundation of not just love, but mutual respect. The last scene of The Taste of Things shows a flashback of the two together, and while discussing their relationship, Eugenie asks Dodin if she is his cook or his wife. She smiles when he says she is his cook.
Stream The Taste of Things on Hulu.
