The Best Cooking Movies On Netflix With Female Leads
Ever since the advent of television foodie reality shows such as Hell’s Kitchen and Top Chef, the interest in cooking has risen exponentially. The Food Network has helped in satisfying that craving as has a slate of new reality shows.
There have also been a number of feature films that center around cooking, particularly those with female leads. These cooking movies showcase art and inspiration while telling an interesting story.
Netflix has a number of quality cooking movies. Right now, though, they only have two films that feature female leads. Let’s take a look at both of them.
Best Netflix Cooking Movies with Female Leads
Hunger (2023)
Hunger is a Netflix original movie, one of six that the streaming network announced will come from Thailand. In the past few years, Netflix has featured a smattering of films from Thailand, but this is the first time they are bringing in a full slate of Thai originals.
This brand-new cooking movie, Hunger, stars Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying as Aoy, a young street-food cook whose talents bring her an invitation to join the fine dining industry.
These talents have caught the eye of the infamous Chef Paul, a man who is going to push Aoy to her limit with his ruthless teaching style. Nopachai Jayanama plays Chef Paul. Also joining the mix is Chef Paul’s sous chef Tone, played here by Gunn Svasti.
Chuengcharoensukying is no stranger to Thai films or television. The 27-year-old actress first began her career as a model before transitioning over to feature films and television series. Along with the Netflix cooking movie Hunger, she will also be seen in another Netflix film, DELETE.
Hunger is directed by Sitisiri Mongkolsiri from a script written by Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, who also produced the cooking movie.
Watch Hunger on Netflix.
Julie & Julia (2009)
When talking about the best cooking movies with female leads, Julie & Julia is without a doubt the top of the class. The film stars Academy Award winner Meryl Streep and Academy Award nominee Amy Adams.
The film tells the story of cook Julie Powell (Adams), who was inspired by Julia Child (Streep) to cook all of Child’s 524 recipes in her cookbook in one calendar year.
This cooking movie is told in a series of flashbacks that jumps from present-day New York to the past when Julia Child was early in her culinary career. In the past, Child is studying in Paris, France at Le Cordon Bleu to learn French cooking.
As the only female in the class, she is met with skepticism, but her tenacity keeps her on track. It is then that Child begins to write her cookbook of French cooking intended for American housewives.
In the present (in this case 2002), we see Julie Powell working a sad job at a call center answering calls from families and victims of 9/11. As a way to get her mind off all of the sadness, she decides to cook every single recipe in Child’s 1961 cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Not only does she decide to cook each and every recipe within a calendar year, but she also decides she is going to record it all in a blog.
Stanley Tucci, who also starred with Streep in the comedy The Devil Wears Prada, stars here with her as Paul Child, Julia’s husband. Chris Medina plays Eric Powell, Julie’s husband.
The film was written and directed by Nora Ephron, who based her script on Child’s autobiography, My Life in France, and Powell’s memoir, Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Kitchen Apartment.
This cooking movie would be Ephron’s final film before she passed away in 2012. Get to this film as quickly as possible as it is slated to leave Netflix at the end of the month.
Watch Julie & Julia on Netflix.
