Perfume

Tom Tykwer directs this thriller based on the novel by Patrick Süsskind. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) was born with no scent of his own, causing his own mother and a string of surrogate mothers to shun him. As a result, he develops the strongest sense of smell imaginable. Grenouille becomes an apprentice to famed perfumer Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman) who helps him to hone his craft. Obsessed with wringing the essence out of everything, the idea occurs to Grenouille that a beautiful, fine smelling woman might make the perfect perfume. Things take a dark turn however and, in his quietly desperate, compulsive search for new odours, nothing can stand between him and the scents he wishes to acquire.