
Food Movies That Will Make You Hungry
What do Ralph Fiennes, Meryl Streep, Patton Oswalt, and Catherine Zeta-Jones have in common? Besides playing some of the most iconic roles in Hollywood, they’ve all starred in beloved food movies that have left mouths watering around the world, and they’re certainly not the only ones.
The holiday season is here, and with it comes all the traditions we know and love: shindigs with our favorite people, frantic shopping days, and food… lots and lots of food. And because meals play a crucial role in making movies engaging and relatable, we’ve compiled a list of 41 films to sink your teeth into this month. Who doesn’t want a big bowl of spaghetti after watching Scott Hicks’ No Reservations? Who wouldn’t crave the incredible combination of aged goat cheese and strawberries after that opening scene in Ratatouille?
Whatever your go-to meal or snack is, kick off the season of baking, gift-giving, and over-eating, and dive into the following delectable food movies. Because there’s nothing that brings people together more than cinema and a delicious meal. Bon Appétit!
100%
Critics Consensus: Thanks to director Juzo Itami's offbeat humor and sharp satirical edge, Tampopo is a funny, sexy, affectionate celebration of food and its broad influence on Japanese culture.
Synopsis: Two Japanese milk-truck drivers (Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ken Watanabe) help a restaurant owner (Nobuko Miyamoto) learn how to cook great noodles.
Starring: Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Ken Watanabe, Kôji Yakusho
Directed By: Juzo Itami
99%
Critics Consensus: Beautiful, thoughtful, and engrossing, Jiro Dreams of Sushi should prove satisfying even for filmgoers who don't care for the cuisine.
Synopsis: Revered sushi chef Jiro Ono strives for perfection in his work, while his eldest son, Yoshikazu, has trouble living up to his father's legacy.
Starring: Jiro Ono, Yoshikazu Ono, Masuhiro Yamamoto, Yukio Watanabe
Directed By: David Gelb
99%
Critics Consensus: Gripping from start to finish, Boiling Point uses its bold formal approach to support a thrilling tightrope of a tale.
Synopsis: On the busiest night of the year at one of the hottest restaurants in London, charismatic, commanding head chef Andy Jones (Stephen Graham) balances along... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Stephen Graham, Vinette Robinson, Alice Feetham, Hannah Walters
Directed By: Philip Barantini
97%
Critics Consensus: As epicurean as French haute cuisine, The Taste of Things indulges our palates with an exquisite seven-course love story for the soul.
Synopsis: Cook Eugenie and her boss Dodin grow fond of one another over 20 years, and their romance gives rise to dishes that impress even the... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel, Emmanuel Salinger, Patrick d'Assumçao
Directed By: Tran Anh Hung
96%
Critics Consensus: The performances in Big Night are wonderful, and the food looks delicious.
Synopsis: Chef Primo and businessman Secondo are immigrant brothers from Italy who open their dream restaurant, Paradise, in New Jersey. However, Primo's authentic food is too... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Minnie Driver, Ian Holm, Isabella Rossellini, Tony Shalhoub
Directed By: Campbell Scott, Stanley Tucci
96%
Critics Consensus: Fast-paced and stunningly animated, Ratatouille adds another delightfully entertaining entry -- and a rather unlikely hero -- to the Pixar canon.
Synopsis: Remy (Patton Oswalt), a resident of Paris, appreciates good food and has quite a sophisticated palate. He would love to become a chef so he... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Lou Romano, Brian Dennehy
Directed By: Brad Bird
92%
Critics Consensus: An exquisitely shot showcase for Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung that marks a somber evolution of Wong Kar-wai's chic style, In the Mood for Love is a tantric tease that's liable to break your heart.
Synopsis: In 1962, journalist Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and his wife move into a Hong Kong apartment, but Chow's spouse is often away on... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Kelly Lai Chen, Rebecca Pan
Directed By: Kar-Wai Wong
92%
Critics Consensus: Mostly Martha may have a predictable plot, but it still feels charming and fresh, and the food will make you hungry.
Synopsis: Martha (Martina Gedeck) relies on her culinary skills as her primary means of communication. She lives for her work and presides with obsessive care over... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Martina Gedeck, Sergio Castellitto, Maxime Foerste, August Zirner
Directed By: Sandra Nettelbeck
90%
Critics Consensus: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is strange yet comforting, full of narrative detours that don't always work but express the film's uniqueness.
Synopsis: The last of five coveted "golden tickets" falls into the hands of a sweet but very poor boy. He and his grandpa then get a... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear
Directed By: Mel Stuart
91%
Critics Consensus: With the aid of a witty script and a well-acted ensemble, Dinner Rush is a tasty dish.
Synopsis: One unlucky evening, Louis Cropa (Danny Aiello), a part-time bookmaker, discovers that his restaurant has become a hotbed of conflicting characters. In addition to having... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Danny Aiello, Edoardo Ballerini, Vivian Wu, Michael McGlone
Directed By: Bob Giraldi
89%
Critics Consensus: Sweet, smart, and quirky, Waitress hits the right, bittersweet notes through this romantic comedy through its witty script and a superb performance by Keri Russell.
Synopsis: Jenna (Keri Russell) works in a diner in a small Southern town and is a genius at creating luscious desserts, but her marriage to an... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Shelly
Directed By: Adrienne Shelly
88%
Critics Consensus: While its social commentary relies on basic ingredients, The Menu serves up black comedy with plenty of flavor.
Synopsis: A couple (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travels to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau
Directed By: Mark Mylod
88%
Critics Consensus: A richly layered look at the complex interactions between a widowed chef and his daughters, Ang Lee's generational comedy Eat Drink Man Woman offers filmgoers a tasty cinematic treat.
Synopsis: Master Chef Chu (Sihung Lung) is semi-retired and lives at home with his three unmarried daughters, Jia-Jen (Kuei-Mei Yang), a religious chemistry teacher; Jia-Chien (Chien-Lien... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Sihung Lung, Kuei-Mei Yang, Chien-Lien Wu, Yu-wen Wang
Directed By: Ang Lee
88%
Critics Consensus: Like Water for Chocolate plays to the senses with a richly rewarding romance that indulges in magical realism to intoxicating effect.
Synopsis: The youngest daughter in her family, the beautiful Tita is forbidden to marry her true love, Pedro. Since tradition dictates that Tita must care for... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Lumi Cavazos, Marco Leonardi, Regina Torné, Mario Iván Martínez
Directed By: Alfonso Arau
87%
Critics Consensus: Chef's charming cast and sharp, funny script add enough spice to make this feel-good comedy a flavorful -- if familiar -- treat.
Synopsis: After a controlling owner (Dustin Hoffman) pushes him too far, chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) quits his position at a prestigious Los Angeles restaurant. As... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Jon Favreau, Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson
Directed By: Jon Favreau
85%
Critics Consensus: Quirky humor, plucky characters and solid slapstick make this family comedy a frenetically tasty time at the movies.
Synopsis: When hard times hit Swallow Falls, its townspeople can only afford to eat sardines. Flint Lockwood, a failed inventor, thinks he has the answer to... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg
Directed By: Christopher Miller, Phil Lord
84%
Critics Consensus: Sweet Bean's deliberate pace demands patience, but the satisfying simplicity of its story -- and Kirin Kiki's absorbing performance -- yield an array of riches well worth the wait.
Synopsis: A baker's business takes off when he hires an eccentric 76-year-old woman who specializes in making dorayaki pancakes.
Starring: Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida, Miyoko Asada
Directed By: Naomi Kawase
83%
Critics Consensus: The Trip to Spain offers more of the same scenery, food, and conversation that filled Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's first two Trips -- which is to say, more of a good thing.
Synopsis: Steve and Rob sample the restaurants and hotels of the Spanish coastline, trading jokes and impressions over their lunches.
Starring: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Marta Barrio, Claire Keelan
Directed By: Michael Winterbottom
82%
Critics Consensus: With director Paul King at the helm and some solid new songs at the ready, the warmly old-fashioned Wonka puts a suitably sweet spin on the classic character while still leaving some room for the source material's darker undertones.
Synopsis: Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s most iconic children's book and one of the best-selling... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Hugh Grant, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key
Directed By: Paul King
82%
Critics Consensus: Much like the titular cuisine, Soul Food blends a series of savory ingredients to offer warm, generous helpings of nourishment and comfort.
Synopsis: When Ahmad Simmons' (Brandon Hammond) diabetic grandmother, Josephine Big Mama Joseph (Irma P. Hall), falls into a coma during an operation to amputate her leg,... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach
Directed By: George Tillman Jr.
76%
Critics Consensus: Boosted by Meryl Streep's charismatic performance as Julia Child, Julie and Julia is a light, but fairly entertaining culinary comedy.
Synopsis: Frustrated with a soul-killing job, New Yorker Julie Powell (Amy Adams) embarks on a daring project: she vows to prepare all 524 recipes in Julia... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina
Directed By: Nora Ephron
77%
Critics Consensus: Fried Green Tomatoes' tearjerking drama is undeniably manipulative, but in the hands of a skilled cast that includes Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates, it's also powerfully effective.
Synopsis: On one of trapped housewife Evelyn Couch's (Kathy Bates) Wednesday nursing home visits, she encounters Ninny Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy), a colorful old woman who brightens... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker
Directed By: Jon Avnet
76%
Critics Consensus: An English remake of Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman, Tortilla Soup is as charming and flavorful as the dishes it features.
Synopsis: Three grown sisters, Maribel (Tamara Mello), Leticia (Elizabeth Peña) and Carmen (Jacqueline Obradors) try to cope and live with their father Martin (Héctor Elizondo) ;... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Héctor Elizondo, Jacqueline Obradors, Elizabeth Peña, Tamara Mello
Directed By: Maria Ripoll
100%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Writer/director Éric Besnard's mouth-watering new historical comedy indelibly pairs Grégory Gadebois and Isabelle Carré as a gifted chef and his unlikely protégé, who must find... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Grégory Gadebois, Isabelle Carré, Benjamin Lavernhe, Guillaume de Tonquedec
Directed By: Éric Besnard
97%
Critics Consensus: Charming and melancholy, Babette's Feast is a timeless Scandinavian treat that explores the complex relationships between people, beliefs, and what it means to be an artist.
Synopsis: Beautiful but pious sisters Martine (Birgitte Federspiel) and Philippa (Bodil Kjer) grow to spinsterhood under the wrathful eye of their strict pastor father on the... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Stéphane Audran, Jean-Philippe Lafont, Jarl Kulle, Gudmar Klöving
Directed By: Gabriel Axel
90%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Geraldine Tam (Laureen Chew) is the only one of her siblings to still live at home. Her mother (Kim Chew) -- who, after visiting a... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Laureen Chew, Kim Chew, Victor Wong, Ida Chung
Directed By: Wayne Wang
88%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: The Oliverio family readies its Feast of the Seven Fishes, an Italian Christmas tradition stretching back to the old country.
Starring: Skyler Gisondo, Madison Iseman, Josh Helman, Ray Abruzzo
Directed By: Robert Tinnell
85%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A chocolate maker falls in love with a gifted worker.
Starring: Benoît Poelvoorde, Isabelle Carré, Lorella Cravotta, Lise Lamétrie
Directed By: Jean-Pierre Améris
82%
Critics Consensus: A Taste of Hunger is as palatable and stylish as the dishes it plates while a marriage boils over.
Synopsis: A power couple within the Danish gourmet scene run the popular restaurant Malus in Copenhagen. The couple is willing to sacrifice everything to achieve their... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Katrine Greis-Rosenthal, Charlie Gustafsson, Nicolas Bro
Directed By: Christoffer Boe
78%
Critics Consensus: Mystic Pizza is like its namesake food: it's cheesy, topped with romance, and rises to the occasion.
Synopsis: For sexy Daisy Araujo, her sensible sister Kat and their wisecracking friend Jojo, the summer after high school is a summer they can never forget.... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Julia Roberts, Annabeth Gish, Lili Taylor, Vincent D'Onofrio
Directed By: Donald Petrie
71%
Critics Consensus: While not as clever or inventive as its predecessor, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 compensates with enough dazzling visuals to keep younger viewers entertained.
Synopsis: His genius finally recognized by his idol Chester V, inventor Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) gets to join Chester's company, where he can work full-time on... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Will Forte
Directed By: Cody Cameron, Kris Pearn
69%
Critics Consensus: Director Lasse Hallström does lovely work and Helen Mirren is always worth watching, but The Hundred-Foot Journey travels predictable ground already covered by countless feel-good dramedies.
Synopsis: Hassan Kadam is an extraordinarily talented and largely self-taught culinary novice. When he and his family are displaced from their native India and settle in... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon
Directed By: Lasse Hallström
70%
Critics Consensus: While it'll certainly be an easier sell for foodie filmgoers, Haute Cuisine's beautifully filmed biopic should satisfy most viewers hungry for a beautifully filmed dramedy.
Synopsis: An obscure cook (Catherine Frot) from a Périgord truffle farm makes waves in the Élysée Palace when she becomes the personal chef of France's president... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Catherine Frot, Jean d'Ormesson, Hippolyte Girardot, Arthur Dupont
Directed By: Christian Vincent
63%
Critics Consensus: Chocolat is a charmingly light-hearted fable with a lovely performance by Binoche.
Synopsis: When mysterious Vianne and her child arrive in a tranquil French town in the winter of 1959, no one could have imagined the impact that... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Lena Olin, Judi Dench
Directed By: Lasse Hallström
61%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Young Nigel Slater (Freddie Highmore) has big culinary aspirations, even though all his mother (Victoria Hamilton) knows how to make is toast. When his mother... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Helena Bonham Carter, Freddie Highmore, Ken Stott, Oscar Kennedy
Directed By: S.J. Clarkson
56%
Critics Consensus: Although Queen Latifah's bountiful life-affirming spirit permeates the film, director Wayne Wang is unable to revive this remake with any real flair.
Synopsis: The discovery that she has a terminal illness prompts introverted saleswoman Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifah) to reflect on what she realizes has been an overly... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Queen Latifah, Gérard Depardieu, LL Cool J, Timothy Hutton
Directed By: Wayne Wang
42%
Critics Consensus: This romantic comedy may look good on paper, but it's too predictable and melancholy for the genre.
Synopsis: Master chef Kate Armstrong (Catherine Zeta-Jones) runs her life and her kitchen with intimidating intensity. However, a recipe for disaster may be in the works... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin, Patricia Clarkson
Directed By: Scott Hicks
34%
Critics Consensus: The scenery is nice to look at, and Julia Roberts is as luminous as ever, but without the spiritual and emotional weight of the book that inspired it, Eat Pray Love is too shallow to resonate.
Synopsis: Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) thought she had everything she wanted in life: a home, a husband and a successful career. Now newly divorced and facing... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Julia Roberts, James Franco, Javier Bardem, Richard Jenkins
Directed By: Ryan Murphy
29%
Critics Consensus: Burnt offers a few spoonfuls of compelling culinary drama, but they're lost in a watery goulash dominated by an unsavory main character and overdone clichés.
Synopsis: Adam Jones, former chef at one of Paris' premier restaurants, wants to turn his life around. After destroying his career with drug use and a... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Omar Sy, Daniel Brühl
Directed By: John Wells
16%
Critics Consensus: Simply Irresistible is simply not.
Synopsis: After her mother's death, mediocre chef Amanda Shelton (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is having trouble attracting customers to her family's restaurant. While shopping for ingredients, she... View Full Synopsis
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sean Patrick Flanery, Patricia Clarkson, Dylan Baker
Directed By: Mark Tarlov





