‘The Tasters’ Review: An Unusual WWII Tale of Fear, Survival and Suspicion

Among the many little-known stories to emerge from World War II, the one chosen by veteran Italian director Silvio Soldini for his film The Tasters is, at the very least, an unusual one. Based on an account first told in 2012 by a survivor named Margot Wölk, the film centers on a group of young women who, for much of the war, were tasked with tasting the food prepared for Adolf Hitler in order to prevent the Führer from being poisoned. Some historians have questioned parts of Wölk’s story, but Soldini’s film is not meant as documentary reconstruction. Instead, it draws on the historical anecdote as retold by novelist Rosella Postorino in her book At the Wolf’s Table.

The story begins in mid-1943. Rosa (Elisa Schlott) arrives from Berlin at a small village in what was then Prussia (now part of Poland), where her in-laws live. Her husband is away fighting in the war, and Rosa has fled Berlin to escape the relentless bombings, hoping for a quieter, safer existence in the countryside. What she apparently doesn’t know—odd for 1943, though stranger things have happened—is that her in-laws’ house sits dangerously close to the Wolf’s Lair, the heavily guarded headquarters where Hitler spends much of his time.

One morning soldiers show up and take her away without explanation to an unexpected destination: a dining hall where, alongside six other women—mostly single or widowed—a lavish vegetarian banquet awaits. Puzzled but hungry, the women sit down and eat heartily while soldiers and a chef hover nearby, describing each dish as it’s served. The situation only becomes clear when Albert Ziegler, an SS lieutenant (Max Riemelt) and the man in charge of the operation, arrives to explain what they’ve just done—and what they’ll be doing from now on.

Their “job” is simple, if terrifying. As long as Hitler remains at his headquarters, they must taste every meal prepared for him to ensure it isn’t poisoned before it reaches their leader’s table. The women immediately want out, but leaving is not an option. From that moment on, The Tasters unfolds as an episodic chronicle spanning several years, following Rosa and the group of women as they navigate personal tragedies, romances, fears, confusion, illnesses, abortions, questionable meals, and eventually the crumbling of Nazi power.

In many ways the film feels unmistakably German—in its subject matter and language—despite being directed by an Italian filmmaker, an unusual detail that probably has more to do with the novel’s origins than anything else. Beyond that curiosity, however, The Tasters is an episodic and somewhat uneven film, alternating between stronger and weaker sequences. Its chapter-based structure jumps forward months at a time, and the narrative often feels more suited to a television series. Apart from a few threads running throughout—including a rather conspicuous romantic subplot—most conflicts begin and resolve within each individual time block. In fact, the film’s final major dramatic development arrives only a few minutes before the end.

As a result, the film’s momentum fluctuates. Interest fades at times, only to pick up again. One episode involving an “illness” leads to an unexpected consequence, while another connected to Rosa’s personal life develops in surprising ways. Other sequences—including that uneasy romance—feel less essential, functioning mainly as a source of tension that needs to be resolved before the closing scenes. The most powerful and historically grounded moment, however, comes when the women are affected by the aftermath of the real-life assassination attempt against Hitler in 1944.

Carefully crafted in its period recreation and modest in its formal ambitions—most of the action unfolds inside the tasters’ “workplace”—Soldini’s film brings to light a largely forgotten corner of Nazi history. In the end, what may prove even more fascinating than the film itself is the real story of Hitler’s food tasters and the ongoing debates among historians of the Third Reich about the veracity of Wölk’s story. At its best, The Tasters works as a gateway into that strange and unsettling historical footnote.