Delicious

Did you hate Saltburn for prioritising shock value, rather than contributing anything of substance to the “eat the rich” debate? Wait until you see what Netflix has in store for you!

En route to their summer residence in the South of France, a privileged German family witness and scoff at locals protesting the poverty in their region. A few days into their holiday, the parents find themselves in a predicament of having to hire a young woman as a housemaid, but (coming as no surprise to anyone but them) she may not have their best interests at heart.

If the plot description sounds in any way uninspired, it is because first-time filmmaker Nele Mueller-Stöfen decided to haphazardly throw different elements of recent films concerning themselves with wealth disparity (Parasite, Infinity Pool, The Menu) into a blender and proudly present the stale concoction as a new dish, presuming her audience as gullible as her protagonists. Rather than not having an original bone in its body, it is this continued insult to the viewer’s intelligence that is Delicious’ worst crime: everything seen on screen is spoon-fed and over-explained, even the inciting incident is presented a second time, as if amounting to a big reveal at the end, believing spectators incapable of coming to a conclusion by themselves. There is no sense of discovery, and nothing drives behind any of the creative decisions in this feature.

While the scripts’ scenarios are bland in their unimaginative renditions, the character’s dialogues and actions are so outlandish, they reveal a complete lack of understanding of both parties portrayed. Neither the rich nor the poor ever feel like corporeal members of the human species – just how someone who comfortably falls in the middle and has had no contact with either end of the spectrum imagines these people to be.

In the kitchen, it doesn’t suffice to randomly throw popular ingredients into a pot and turn on the heat to prepare a delectable meal. There needs to be sensitivity for flavours, which can complement one another, how simmering or searing make a difference and, as you eat with your eyes, garnish and presentation are part of the process. The same is true for film. Not only is Delicious an utterly insipid and hollow watch, its frustrating ignorance of the world it tries to satirise makes it the movie equivalent of “Let them eat cake!”

Selina Sondermann

Delicious does not have a release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.

Watch the trailer for Delicious here: