The Tasters Movie Review

This film is based on a novel and the true story of Margot Wölk’s life. Margot had lived as one of the women chosen to do what is asked of them in this film. ​And it’s shocking.
To know that the meal you craved as you faced starvation could end you is a dreadful proposition, but one people faced in Hitler’s Germany. This story is a wartime drama about Hitler’s “food samplers.” Throughout the seasons, Hitler would stay in different areas of the country, so it was harder for him to be targeted for assassination. You knew he was there when you heard his train pull in. It was a joy to hear it retreat. Doing what he had done, he still feared being killed, even considering his food could be poisoned by those he had wronged. So, there were people hired; he was fair; he paid them to eat prepared meals before he ate them. Let’s face it. Not a bad idea for a man loathed as much as he.

This is set in Easter Prussia in November of 1943. Soldiers knock on our protagonist, Rosa Sauer’s, door. Rosa is played by Elisa Schlott. They took her away. She and a handful of other women are examined and undergo innumerable tests. Her blood was drawn to make sure she is fit for advancement. This was all done at Hitler’s secret headquarters in the woods. They are taken to a beautiful dining table, told to sit, and eat only what is placed in front of them. They’ve never seen such exquisite food. They can’t believe their luck! They are to never try another person’s food. If they don’t feel right, let them know. The cook is proud to see their delight at eating his lovely, prepared food. The Führer will dine on them when given the okay. One important rule they’re given is, “Do not vomit!” They learn the reason they get this special treatment. It takes an hour for poison to pass through their systems, and they are eating food the Führer is hungry for, an hour before he eats. If they die, he can’t very well eat it, can he?

They have no choice but to eat, it is difficult, but sometimes the gun pointed at their head helps, plus they’re being financially compensated, something they all need.  

This goes on for quite some time. Rosa misses her husband Gregor, who was called to war right after their marriage. She is with a handful of women who are just as scared and worried as she is. They get to know one another, exchanging stories of their lives beyond this situation they’re in. Some, she’s jealous of because they have children. She wasn’t that lucky. Some are jealous of her having a husband at all, especially when he writes.

You’re given information about Hitler that you may not have known. He didn’t drink alcohol, didn’t smoke, and didn’t eat meat. He was a vegetarian because he had once been in a slaughterhouse, and the blood all over the floor disgusted him. He loved animals; his dog was like a daughter to him. But he could treat humans like “guinea pigs,” Rosa’s father-in-law called her, angry at what she was being made to do. This was a terrifying look into his Machiavellian mind if you didn’t know it already.  

I don’t want to dive into another situation Rosa finds herself in, and why. Sometimes things happen because we are searching for something to make us feel whole. There is a lot going on in this movie. Though the story of these terrified tasters is too long and the pacing isn’t the best, I say see it for the storyline and the history of yet another horrific thing people endured because of the monster Hitler and his soldiers were. The acting is solid, the sets and costumes take you there, and the score is divine. Watch this and… maybe read the book?