Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) is a baroque feast of cruelty, lust, and vengeance, served with a side of scathing social critique. 

Set almost entirely within the lavish yet oppressive confines of an upscale restaurant, the film follows the tyrannical crime boss Albert Spica (Michael Gambon) as he terrorizes everyone around him—including his humiliated wife, Georgina (Helen Mirren). Seeking escape, Georgina embarks on a dangerous affair with a quiet, bookish diner (Alan Howard), setting off a chain of events that spiral toward an unforgettable, stomach-turning climax.

Bathed in lush, painterly visuals inspired by the Dutch masters, Greenaway’s film is as visually stunning as it is thematically brutal. The restaurant’s shifting color palettes mirror the psychological decay of its characters, while an unsettling score by Michael Nyman reinforces the film’s operatic intensity. Both a grotesque satire of greed and gluttony and a twisted revenge tragedy, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover is a cinematic banquet that dares you to keep watching—even as it turns your stomach.