Film

Ratatouille

A rat with an unimpeachable palate wants to cook in the finest kitchen in Paris, and Pixar builds a film as fussy and gorgeous as the dish in its title. It's a story about talent versus pedigree, told with such visual generosity that steam and knife-work look like poetry. Funny, gentle, and secretly about what makes any art worth doing.

TMDb rating3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love animated films that treat craft, taste and the pleasure of cooking as seriously as they treat slapstick, and you enjoy a story where a sharp eye for detail matters as much as a big heart.

Skip it if you want a loud, fast kids' romp from start to finish, since its comedy sits in gentle set pieces and small observational beats more than in relentless gags.

What it asks of you: It runs about an hour and forty-five minutes and rewards patience, with a brisk first act, a few quieter stretches on food and kitchens, and a lightly bittersweet undertow.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Chef2014

Jon Favreau's warm, food-truck comeback story shares Ratatouille's total delight in cooking as craft and self-expression, shot with the same loving attention to sizzling pans and plated food.

But It's slighter and more meandering than Ratatouille, with a plot that mostly exists to get from one meal to the next.

Chef poster

The Incredibles2004

Same studio, same knack for smuggling a real theme (here, suppressed identity and family duty) inside a fast, funny, gorgeously designed adventure the whole household can watch together.

But It's superhero action rather than food and craft, so the specific pleasure of Ratatouille's culinary obsession is missing.

The Incredibles poster

Kiki's Delivery Service1989

Ghibli's tale of a young witch finding her vocation in a new city has the same tender interest in work, competence, and growing into your calling, wrapped in equally lush European scenery.

But It's slower and quieter, with none of Ratatouille's slapstick chases or big comic set pieces.

Kiki's Delivery Service poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Ratatouille

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi2011

Swap Gusteau's cheerful 'anyone can cook' for its opposite extreme: Jiro's belief that mastery demands a lifetime of unglamorous discipline. Anton Ego's closing verdict on genius and hard work suddenly reads very differently next to a real chef living it.

A documentary about an 85-year-old Tokyo sushi master whose entire life has narrowed to one pursuit: perfection through repetition. It's quiet, meditative, and unexpectedly moving about what obsessive craft actually costs.

But There's no plot, no jokes, and no rats — just long stretches of a man pressing rice, which some will find hypnotic and others will find punishing.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi poster

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Recommended by

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