In Tran Anh Hung’s seventh feature, a passion for food becomes a conduit to exploring an appreciation for the beauty and mystery of existence – as well as telling a delicate, complicated love story.

“The Pot-Au-Feu” simmers thanks to the tender rapport between Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel, who play (respectively) a cook and a gourmet whose devotion to their craft is matched by their adoration for one another. The meals they prepare are filmed exquisitely, but Hung’s understated drama, which won him the Best Director prize at Cannes, invites us to look beyond the delicious spreads in order to savour the everyday pleasures we risk taking for granted.

(Tim Grierson, Screen Daily)