The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover 1989

Albert Spica, Michael Gambon, a ruthless English gangster, has seized control of Le Hollandais, the high-class restaurant run by the French chef Richard Boarst Richard Bohringer. Spica makes nightly appearances with a retinue of thugs, and his boorish behavior unsettles staff and diners alike, even as his money keeps the place going.

Forced to accompany him is his elegant wife Georgina Spica Helen Mirren, whose outward poise contrasts with a growing restlessness. Among the regulars is Michael, a quiet bookshop owner who draws Georgina’s interest. Under Spica’s watch, Georgina begins a discreet affair with Michael Alan Howard, a liaison that offers her a glimpse of a different life.

When Spica learns of the affair, Georgina is driven away from the restaurant and takes shelter at Michael’s book depository. Boarst, practice and cruelty intertwined, sends food to Georgina through Pup Paul Russell, a young boy soprano who sings while he works. Spica’s temper explodes as he tortures Pup, then follows the clue to the book depository, which is revealed in a book the boy carries.

Spica’s men storm the book depository while Georgina visits the hospitalized Pup. They torture Michael to death by force-feeding him pages from his own books, a brutal act that leaves Georgina unaware of the specific location until she returns and discovers his body.

Overcome with rage and grief, she pleads with Boarst to cook Michael’s body, and he reluctantly complies. In a climactic confrontation, Georgina, joined by all who have suffered under Spica, corners him at the restaurant and compels him at gunpoint to eat a mouthful of Michael’s cooked body. Spica obeys, gagging, and Georgina finishes the affair with a final, stark act: she shoots him in the head, labeling him a cannibal.