Review: The Cakemaker

The Cakemaker is a small, intimate film. It’s both heart filling and heart breaking. It’s simply told and leads to unexpected places.

Oren Nachmias (Roy Miller) is an Israeli. He has a wife and son in Jerusalem. While working in Berlin he meets a talented baker named Thomas (Tim Kalkhof). They begin an affair. Oren never hides his family in Jerusalem from Thomas. From the beginning, Thomas is almost obsessively interested in Oren’s other life.

When Oren is killed in an auto accident, Thomas goes to Jerusalem. He watches Oren’s wife Anat (Sarah Adler). He goes into her small cafe and applies for a job. He peers into Oren’s life as quietly and secretly as he can.

Here are two people grieving over the same man while one of them pretends not to have known him. They become closer and closer. Thomas begins baking in Anat’s cafe, bringing in a multitude of customers.

Oren’s mother (Sandra Sade) may have known the truth about her son and Thomas. She doesn’t come right out and say it, but she acts as if she knows who he is. She says nothing about it to Anat.

While the plot and the action are simple, the story takes surprising turns. It grabs you in its heady mix of love and grief and beautiful food and keeps you enthralled.

Themes about religion, keeping kosher, sexual fluidity, love, grief, secrets, and ways of coping with loss give the film depth.

Ofir Raul Graizer both wrote and directed The Cakemaker. It’s a lovely film. You can watch it on Amazon Video or on Netflix.

Like what you read here? Share it with your friends!