Germany 1943: To await the return of her husband (voiced by Nicolas Handwerker) from the war, Rosa (Elisa Schlott) moves from Berlin to the country to live with his parents (Esther Gemsch, Jürgen Wink) for what was supposed to be a short while. But her husband doesn't return and is eventually declared missing in action - de facto dead -, leaving Rosa in despair. But at least, Rosa soon finds work locally (or rather work finds her) when she's chosen to be one of seven women (the other six are Alma Hasun, Emma Falck, Olga von Luckwald, Kriemhild Hamann, Thea Rasche and Berit Vander) to become tasters for Adolf Hitler, who hides in a nearby bunker - meaning they have to check that the Führer's food isn't poisoned. And since none of the women are there on their own free will, they soon become a close-knit family. Rosa also eventually starts a (very secret) affair with one of the SS-commanders (Max Riemelt) of the facility, but drops him after she learns about his concentration camp atrocities. Things aren't all rosy from day one, but they go South when security is tightened after an assassination attempt on Hitler (not by poisoned food though) and the Russians advancing on German soil ...

In a way, this movie feels a bit like a best-of of World War 2 dramas, spanning from the forgotten fate of German women in the war to love with an SS commander to a Jewish woman trying to pass as Aryan in order to survive to the inhumane attitude the Nazis had even towards the German people, and it's all accompanied by dramatic to heavy music while there's not a glimmer of hope or irony in sight. What saves this movie though is that it's very sincere about its subject matter, doesn't sensationalize things but takes them seroiusly. And a solid cast further help to make this one good watch of course.

The Tasters will come to UK and Irish cinemas March 13th, 2026.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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