'Like Water For Chocolate' Review: Less Magic, More Realism

The series adaptation of Like Water For Chocolate currently streaming on MAX has abandoned much of the original film’s magic to give the story more historical context and realism. Laura Esquivel’s novel and the charming 1992 film version used the Mexican Revolution as a general backdrop. But our view of the story’s world was small and constrained almost entirely to the ranch where the main character, Tita, was doomed to live out her life in service to her mother.

The new series, produced by Salma Hayek Pinault, gives us rich cinematography of locations in Tlaxcala and Mexico City which is magical in its own right. And there are beautiful moments created to make things feel magical. But even while the alchemy of Tita’s (Azul Guaita) emotions infusing her recipes is still the main point it’s all much more naturalistic than magical realism. And while I appreciate the greater sense of historical context, I miss the magic.

Context is important, and in this adaptation, we learn much more about how The Revolution is forming, and how it affects the characters and the local community. In the earlier film version, we don’t know much about Pedro other than he’s Tita’s secret love. Pedro (Andres Baida) is a fully developed character in this series. The son of a wealthy neighboring landowner whose father has ties to the government and doesn’t know his son is involved with the Revolutionaries. Pedro resigns himself to marrying Tita’s dour sister, Rosaura (Ana Valeria Becerril), in a misguided bid to be close to Tita. But he’s also involved in smuggling guns and money to local freedom fighters.

Tita’s other sister, the mischievous Gertrudis (Andrea Chaparro), runs away with a Captain in the Revolutionary Army after eating Tita’s quail in rose petal sauce and setting the outdoor shower on fire with her desire. But in this version, the Captain is a former servant from Pedro’s family’s ranch who joined the revolution after being treated unfairly by his master. The budding revolution is the talk of the marketplace and every social gathering. The atmosphere is heavy with its inevitability.

We’re halfway through this six-episode series and a new episode drops each week. It’s a visually sumptuous story enriched with historical details, but it still feels lacking. Azul Guaita is a strong lead who conveys a lot of emotion in her eyes. The forbidden romance between Tita and Pedro is still steamy, and so tied into the food preparation that you’ll be hungry and horny by the end of episode three. But it doesn’t feel as special as the original film, which set itself apart in a year full of historical films and legal thrillers.

New episodes of Like Water For Chocolate stream on Sundays on MAX.