Like Water for Chocolate

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Like Water for Chocolate

1992

2h 24m

Romance

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

48 Reviews

84%

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25,000+ Ratings

The youngest daughter in her family, the beautiful Tita is forbidden to marry her true love, Pedro. Since tradition dictates that Tita must care for her mother, Pedro weds her older sister, Rosaura, though he still loves Tita. The situation creates much tension in the family, and Tita's powerful emotions begin to surface in fantastical ways through her cooking. As the years pass, unusual circumstances test the enduring love of Pedro and Tita.

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Critics Consensus

Like Water for Chocolate plays to the senses with a richly rewarding romance that indulges in magical realism to intoxicating effect.

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Peter Stack

San Francisco Chronicle

01/11/2023

4/4

Laura Esquivel's wonderful novel about the powers of passion has been adapted for the screen by her husband, director Alfonso Arau. The result is as rich and savory as Mexican hot chocolate.

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Michael Wilmington

Los Angeles Times

06/11/2020

It tells a dark, sad, horrific but heartening story in sweet, gleaming images that tickle ribs, quicken senses and awaken hungers. There's just one word for it: Scrumptious.

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Angie Errigo

Empire Magazine

06/11/2020

4/5

Deliciously offbeat and bittersweet, it is, entirely appropriately, a treat.

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Eleanor Ringel Cater

Saporta Report (Atlanta)

10/09/2023

The result is a movie as magical as it is mouth-watering.

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Augusto Martínez Torres

El Pais (Spain)

06/11/2020

The film's biggest setback is its script in which the density is felt next to its runtime. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Fotogramas Staff

Fotogramas

06/11/2020

4/5

An imaginative reconstruction of the traditional Mexican melodrama that is one of the year's best surprises. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Alec B

@AlecMichaelB Feb 13

Seductive and quietly subversive, Like Water for Chocolate remains as lush and transporting today as it was more than three decades ago. Infused with sensual imagery, longing, and a delicate thread of magical realism, the film captures the emotional intensity of Laura Esquivel’s novel while bringing its kitchen-centered mysticism vividly to life on screen. Food becomes both language and rebellion, each dish carrying desire, grief, or defiance in ways that feel intimate rather than theatrical. At once quirky and deeply romantic, the adaptation honors the spirit of Esquivel’s story: its feminism, folklore, and simmering passion, making it a faithful and enduring companion to the iconic book.

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Joy B.

@9mr_0 Jan 15

فلم جميل جدا. القصة رائعه و تحولاتها جميلة جدا. المخرج سرد القصة بشكل رائع و هادىء مع شاعرية جميلة . اداء الممثلين اكثر من رائع مع حظور قوي جدا من بطلة العمل و اداء متمكن . التصوير رائع ومتزن جمع بين الهدوء و جمال الصورة و يتصاعد مع الاحداث. موسيقى رائعة و مناسبه للمشاهد . الفلم رحلة للنضال بوجهه العادات و التقاليد .

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Nov 3

Copyright 1992-2025 by Miramax Films!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All ages admitted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Christine B

@RT69982753 Sep 27

This movie has been one of my favorites for the past 25 years, at least. Beautifully acted and just a creative storyline. It's worth watching a movie with subtitles when it's this good.

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Alejandro E

@Alex970 Jul 5

Puede ser que peque de sobrevalorada. La cuestión es que este drama generacional sobre el arte de cocinar, y el cargar el peso de vivir con una madre posesiva tiene un magnetismo que no cabe a discusión, y se deja ver con agrado.

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S R

@ScottR May 3

A bizarre romantic drama based around old Mexico near the TX border, with a family settling an area and dealing with a younger daughter who attracts men easily. So it gets into her affairs with symbolism and metaphors galore. It also had an odd narrative that seemed childish in its storytelling. Despite me being uncomfortable with the motivations that felt immoral, I still was curious what would happen. NYT 1000 movies list and SLC DVD.

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Alfonso Arau

Director

Lumi Cavazos

Tita

Marco Leonardi

Pedro

Regina Torné

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Synopsis

The youngest daughter in her family, the beautiful Tita is forbidden to marry her true love, Pedro. Since tradition dictates that Tita must care for her mother, Pedro weds her older sister, Rosaura, though he still loves Tita. The situation creates much tension in the family, and Tita's powerful emotions begin to surface in fantastical ways through her cooking. As the years pass, unusual circumstances test the enduring love of Pedro and Tita.

Director: Alfonso Arau
Producer: Alfonso Arau
Screenwriter: Laura Esquivel
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Arau Films Internacional
Genre: Romance
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 27, 1992, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 17, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $14.0M
Runtime: 2h 24m
Sound Mix: Stereo, Surround

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