A talented Thai chef plots her revenge after a chance encounter with the man who scarred her both physically and emotionally. A film by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, starring Bella Boonsang, Kris Srepoomseth, Nopachai Jayanama, Supinun Chotiphiphatwanich, Kunchanuj Kengkarnka, Arthit Mulsarn, Thanarith Satrusayang, Pattarasuda Anuman Rajadhon, Pongpat Patumsuwon, and Tadanobu Asano.
Morte Cucina
ครัวสาว
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
(2026)
During her shift at a local restaurant, Sao (Bella Boonsang) encounters Korn (Kris Srepoomseth) dining with friends. Although they barely interact, Sao’s reaction hints at a dark history between them, while Korn remains completely oblivious to who she is.
In the restaurant kitchen, Sao asks Chef Yod (Arthit Mulsarn) if she can stay in the back, admitting she doesn’t want to be out front alone. Watching him work, she offers to help. Yod instructs her to crack and beat three eggs, then slice tofu into equal-sized cubes. He playfully adds that once he starts grilling the yakitori, she can go wash his clothes and clean his motorcycle. When Sao asks why he loves cooking Japanese cuisine, Yod explains that his former boss sent him to train in Japan for three months. He proudly notes that he was the first person at his old restaurant to receive that opportunity. After their shift, Yod gives Sao a ride back to her apartment on his motorcycle.
The film cuts to an art gallery where Korn’s wife, Vivienne (Wendy Zhuo), attends an exhibition by an eccentric Japanese artist (Tadanobu Asano). His newest installation is simply a series of empty picture frames. This leads to what is arguably the funniest moment in the film: the artist throws a tantrum after spotting a single fingerprint on the glass, accusing his gallerist Cod (Thanarith Satrusayang), of touching it. Despite the absurdity, Vivienne is captivated. She asks about the artwork’s origins. The artist claims it came from his dream, a ‘dream of nothing.’ He then launches into a cryptic, spiritual rant that Cod must translate to secure the sale.
Later, Korn complains that he’s starving and insists they grab dinner, but Vivienne is too swamped with work. She explains she has to finish preparing documents for the Japanese artist. She admits that while his art is bizarre and twisted, she actually likes it. Left with no other choice, Korn heads out to dinner alone.
The film cuts to a teenage girl (Supinun Chotiphiphatwanich) whose mother-in-law accuses her of bringing shame to their provincial Muslim community. The older woman insists that her daughter-in-law went to a local temple fair and slept with strangers.
At the beach, the girl coughs on a cigarette, complaining about the terrible smell. The man (Kunchanuj Kengkarnka) teases her, saying she needs a beer instead of a Coke to properly enjoy it. Suspecting her inexperience, he asks if she’s ever actually had a beer. She lies to save face. But when he challenges her to name her preferred brand, she panics and simply grabs one of the beers he brought, claiming it’s her usual drink.
As they continue to drink, the girl becomes heavily intoxicated. Exploiting her vulnerable state, the man takes advantage of her. Though she weakly struggles and attempts to push him away, she is too incapacitated by the alcohol to fight back as he overpowers and assaults her. When she wakes up the following morning, she finds herself abandoned on the sand, with both the man and his motorcycle long gone.
We are left to assume this flashback depicts the fateful meeting between a teenage Sao and a younger Korn. Following the assault, the ensuing rumors lead to her being banished from her Muslim community and exiled from her hometown.
The film shifts back to Korn, who invites Sao out for a meal. As he eagerly devours his food, he notices she is barely touching hers. When he asks why, Sao explains that she finds more joy in cooking for others than in eating. Intrigued, Korn asks if she’s a good cook. Sao humbly deflects, admitting she isn’t sure, but notes she has been working in kitchens since she was a little girl. He then asks if she is from Bangkok, prompting her to reveal she was born in Songkhla. Yet, when Sao asks if he has ever visited her hometown, Korn simply ignores the question. He continues eating as if he has no interest in answering.
As Korn develops a romantic relationship with Sao, he grows increasingly distant from his doctor friend (Nopachai Jayanama), choosing instead to spend his time taking Sao out to various restaurants. Curiously, Sao has yet to actually cook for Korn, while his wife seems to conveniently fade out of the narrative entirely.
Meanwhile, Sao takes a Thai cuisine class where the instructor (Pattarasuda Anuman Rajadhon) explains the ancient philosophy of elemental cooking. She teaches that a meal aligned with a person’s element (earth, water, wind, or fire) brings healing, whereas a mismatched food acts as a poison. A truly skilled chef must tailor their cooking not only to the diner’s specific element but also to the season. She notes that summer calls for cooling foods like cucumber and watermelon, while the rainy season requires heat-inducing ingredients like fingerroot, ginger, and garlic. Driven by this knowledge, Sao extends her studies beyond the classroom, obsessively reading old texts and recipes until she fully masters the craft.
The director deliberately omits the initial interaction between Sao and Korn at the restaurant. This narrative choice creates an immediate disconnect, planting an early seed of doubt. Because we never see them exchange numbers, it serves as the first clue that the story might be playing out entirely in Sao’s imagination.
A talented Thai chef plots her revenge after a chance encounter with the man who scarred her both physically and emotionally.
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A film by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, starring Bella Boonsang, Kris Srepoomseth, Nopachai Jayanama, Supinun Chotiphiphatwanich, Arthit Mulsarn, Thanarith Satrusayang, Pattarasuda Anuman Rajadhon, Pongpat Patumsuwon, and Tadanobu Asano.
This review reflects the cut screened on 28 October 2025 at TOHO Cinemas Hibiya for the Tokyo International Film Festival, an event accompanied by a post-screening Q&A with director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, cinematographer Christopher Doyle, and actress Bella Boonsang.
Written and directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Morte Cucina is a tense psychological thriller about a talented Thai chef with a dark past. When she unexpectedly crosses paths with the man who traumatized her, she devises a plan for revenge.
The story unfolds in a non-chronological order, forcing viewers to reconstruct its timeline as they watch. Even when a scene seems like the logical next step, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is.
The narrative is divided into three distinct acts. Act I centers on Sao’s youth and the devastating trauma of her assault by Korn. Act II shifts to adulthood, where Sao unexpectedly encounters Korn while waitressing, using her culinary prowess to seduce him and set her revenge in motion. Finally, Act III delivers the conclusion: Sao has been wielding her cooking like a form of dark magic, slowly weakening Korn little by little over the years.
At its core, the film is a slow-burn revenge thriller anchored by a fascinating protagonist. While her motives are standard for the genre, her methods are captivating, keeping me hooked as I tried to guess her endgame.
The film delivers a wonderfully ambiguous scene following Korn’s death, suggesting Sao is being visited by his ravenous spirit, drawn back from the grave by the memory of her food. The film should have cut to black right there. Leaving it open-ended adds a layer of doubt, making the audience wonder if any of this actually happened, or if the whole thing was just Sao’s delusion.
During the Q&A session, the director shared his screenwriting method: he usually develops characters he finds interesting, places them into a situation, and lets the story unfold organically from their interactions. This explains the occasional inconsistencies I felt in the narrative. These inconsistencies sometimes create a compelling sense of ambiguity, but other times simply feel disjointed.
Take Sao’s storyline, for example. We are presented with two connected characters at different ages, and we assume they are younger and older versions of the same woman. Yet the film never explicitly confirms this. Even the director noted that there are two distinct storylines in the movie, refusing to confirm whether Sao and the teenage girl are actually the same person.
Morte Cucina premiered at San Sebastián International Film Festival (SSIFF) on 23 September 2025. The film had its Asian premiere at Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) on 28 October.
Morte Cucina (ครัวสาว) is scheduled for theatrical release in Thailand on 2 July 2026.
