In the modern day, there are two great luxuries many of us try to savour and hold dear: the arts and food.
No matter who or where you are, food-centric is what everyone is. It is one of the greatest driving forces of our existence. Food directs where we go besides all other plans. Food reminds us of old memories or sends us to new places. Very little else can evoke feelings like the sound of a hot pan sizzling or the crackle and warm glow of a fire heating a steaming pot.
In an era where phenomenology is being captured ever more clearly in creative media, why not take a look at the ways film has paid homage to the humble kitchen, the wily chef, and that honest, all-too-familiar sustenance which brings us all together: food.
Join us on a visual culinary journey into the ways filmmakers have used food and drink as a tool, goal, and metaphor in this latest season of Storyhouse Gems.
The Menu
Clean, clear lines. Clearer instructions. A recipe to be followed. A curated menu for a curated dining room. The least we will settle for is perfection. Eat your food, but do not simply eat your food. Taste. But leave room for dessert.
Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy come together in a very unfortunate coincidence for both of them in Mark Mylod’s 2022 horror-comedy feast for the ages. The Menu represents a clash of order and chaos within the hospitality industry. Mylod’s use of almost sterile interior scenes against the beauty of nature speaks to the power the ingredients hold over each dish and the attempts chefs make to control their kitchen and everything in it.
Muted colours flourish to life with each course and, even as things take a dark turn, as with all horror films, the food remains the brightest element. The next dish is the one constant we can be sure of as we delve deeper into the surprises this evening at the esteemed restaurant, ‘The Hawthorne’, holds for us.
We follow Margot, an enigma to audience and characters alike. We learn more with every dish that leaves the kitchen. Take this film not only as a commentary on the relationship between chef and customer, food and consumer, but also as one between true appreciation and shallow admiration. Undeniably, making food is an art form. The way each person appreciates good art varies greatly. But when one person attempts to enforce their appreciation upon a whole dining room, the conflict leads to more than just a bad taste left in one’s mouth.
Who knows when the next course might be your last? We just need to hope that Margot can go off-menu.
Wed 11 March 2026 at 8pm
The Angels’ Share
In Ken Loach’s 2012 drama-comedy-heist film, Robbie and his band of jolly parolees discover a passion for whisky. In coming to understand its value in giving their lives direction, they may even discover a way for whisky to give them the money they need to fix their past mistakes.
Filled with social commentary about the traps and pitfalls facing underprivileged youth in Scotland, The Angels’ Share adds to Ken Loach’s repertoire of socially conscious dramas. Gritty, realistic cityscapes thrust the uncompromising harshness of unsettled living upon us in sudden acts of violence. All this is contrasted with the cool, open wilderness of the Scottish Highlands. Whisky distilleries scattered across these lands make up a series of restorative retreats where the characters find solace from the unforgiving reality they inhabit.
In this love letter to whisky and to Scotland itself, run away from the city and look for the solution to your problems over a quiet glass of amber liquid. You’re among friends, so we’ll figure it out.
Wed 1 April 2026 at 6pm
Tampopo
Teacher meets student. Student begs to be taught. Man in a White Suit passionately eats alongside his Mistress. Teacher reluctantly agrees to teach. Another scene of the Man in the White Suit doing something passionate with food.
In this ageless piece of beautiful chaos by Juzo Itami, every element of love and passion flies off the screen, daring you to catch it. While Tampopo never takes its eccentric cast of characters too seriously, it treats food with utmost reverence: the seconds we wait before beginning to eat, the sound the food makes, the order in which we give attention to each constituent part of a meal.
If Tampopo were a chef, there would be no charge for the food, the lobby would be full of laughter and beautiful dishes, but you might be thrown out for “chewing wrong”.
But do not forget that we are dealing with some very important themes: the competition of rivalry, the closure of small businesses, infidelity, local crime, integrity and respect for people and for art. Itami handles them all through the metaphor of food. Each character develops like a meal, with side dishes and stories enriching the overall experience.
This film is bonkers. It may be the truest expression of passion for food out there. Beautiful, intricate and a little ugly if you look too closely. But so passionate, every moment speaks to the depth of the characters’ desire for creating beauty in a bowl.
Watch carefully, young pupils, and you might learn a thing or two. And remember: don’t interrupt the final movie.
Wed 29 April 2026 at 6pm
Big Night
Now we come to the final film of our Gems season, and arguably the one carrying the most important message of them all. It’s all about the food.
Stanley Tucci, directing and starring opposite Tony Shalhoub, captures the mediocrities of life beautifully through distraction. The characters are always being pulled away. With wide open scenes and an assortment of interior shots – wild flashing lights, dark dining rooms, a constant haze of smoke, bright flowers along every wall – all offering a feast for the eyes. But not the feast you truly want.
The feast you want comes from the brother’s humble white kitchen, where the Primo and Secondo try to provide a genuine, authentic experience for anyone who walks through the door of their small independent restaurant. Joy, desire, love, friendship, family. All things which initially distract, but ultimately are brought together in this beautiful homage to appreciation for cooking. Big Night shouts above the dirge and clamouring of modern life. It politely lets us know that the oven is there if we want it. That we can find a calm place to make something simple, or complicated if we prefer. Food is there if we want it.
No film better embodies the saying: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Though perhaps here, making limoncello would be the better analogy!
Wed 27 May 2026 at 6pm
Storyhouse Gems is a monthly strand of hand-picked, one-off cinema screenings featuring cult, classic, and contemporary film favourites programmed by a member of your Storyhouse Cinema Team.
Storyhouse Gems aims to provide experience in cinema programming, event planning and more, nurturing future talents.
Storyhouse Cinema is supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network.
Storyhouse Gems: The Menu
Storyhouse Gems: The Angels' Share
Storyhouse Gems: Tampopo
