The Cakemaker
A German baker enters the Jerusalem café of his dead Israeli lover’s widow, where cakes, grief, and an impossible secret reshape their lives.
Overview
A tale of love, loss, and the bittersweet taste of truth unfolds in a bustling café.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- tender
- restrained
- quiet evening
- arthouse movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as a delicately restrained and emotionally powerful queer drama with carefully drawn characters and performances, while noting that its reticence may test some viewers' patience.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Thomas enters Anat's café and life while hiding his affair with her late husband Oren.
Thomas's cakes transform Anat's café and provide the film's central language of care and connection.
Thomas keeps his relationship with Oren secret while working for Oren's widow and extending the lie.
The story links Thomas and Oren's affair with Thomas's developing relationship to Anat, explicitly examining sexual fluidity.
Films like The Cakemaker, and why
Disobedience
understated queer romance shaped by grief, secrecy, and cultural difference
God's Own Country
quiet lgbtq+ love story balancing intimacy, repression, and social or religious expectations
Aimee & Jaguar
melancholic cross-cultural romance with restrained performances and emotional ambiguity
The Way He Looks
tender queer drama using food, domestic spaces, and grief to explore unexpected intimacy
Movie Details
- Director
- Ofir Raul Graizer
- Release Date
- 2017-12-28
- Runtime
- 113 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (135)
Cast
- Tim Kalkhof
- Sarah Adler
- Roi Miller
- Zohar Shtrauss
- Sandra Sade
- Tamir Ben Yehuda
- Stephanie Stremler
- Tagel Eliyahu
- Eliezer Shimon
- Gal Gonen
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Chai Flicks, Strand Releasing Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Cakemaker about?
- A German baker enters the Jerusalem café of his dead Israeli lover’s widow, where cakes, grief, and an impossible secret reshape their lives.
- What is The Cakemaker like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Cakemaker as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Cakemaker violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Cakemaker as mild.
- What did critics think of The Cakemaker?
- Critics broadly praised the film as a delicately restrained and emotionally powerful queer drama with carefully drawn characters and performances, while noting that its reticence may test some viewers' patience.
- Which films are like The Cakemaker?
- Films with a similar feel include Disobedience, God's Own Country, Aimee & Jaguar, and The Way He Looks.
- How long is The Cakemaker?
- The Cakemaker runs 113 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Cakemaker?
- In United States, The Cakemaker streams on Chai Flicks, Strand Releasing Amazon Channel.
