Hello Betty | HSBC German Film Festival 2026
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https://www.palacecinemas.com.au/festivals/hsbc-german-film-festival-2026
Date Reviewed: 03/05/2026
Many of us would be familiar with Betty Crocker, the fictional American character used to spruik cake mixes. Well, the Swiss had their own equivalent in a lady named Betty Bossi. The biopic, “Hello Betty” is a dramedy that looks at the circumstances surrounding her creation.
Directed by Pierre Monnard and written by André Küttel, this film, based on true events, is as warm and comforting as chicken soup. Sarah Spale stars as Emmi Creola, a married mother of three who works as a copywriter in an ad advertising agency. The year is 1956 and the setting feels like “Mad Men.” But where it differs is that this is very much the story of a trailblazing woman working in a man’s world, rather than Don Draper’s story.
Creola creates Betty Bossi as a way to sell consumer products. The idea is that they would publish a newspaper about a housewife who would offer simple, foolproof recipes. The idea of a woman teaching people to cook is one that has worked, just see Julia Child and the many other female cooks and authors over time. And in Bossi’s case, she was able to serve up dishes with varying tastes and cultural backgrounds like Italian, French, and Swiss to suit the market.
This film winds up examining the tensions between Creola’s working and home life. Her husband, Ernst (the adorable, Martin Vishcher) is less successful professionally. Creola advocates for a modern viewpoint, trying to get him to step up and share the domestic load at home. This concept is one that resonated not just in 1956 but some seven decades later.
Maxi –played by the spirited Rabea Egg – is an interesting character. A rather rebellious fighter, she is a great foil to Creola’s more straightlaced, entrepreneurial Bossi. There are several subplots that are explored here (some better than others). The concept of the young journalist meeting the elderly Creola at the start and the finish of the film feels tacked on. Perhaps the most charming story of them all is Creola and Ernst’s enduring love story that endures despite the many challenges that they face.
“Hello Betty” is a well-made German film that will charm audiences with its warm heart and sweet food photography. It’s a lighthearted slice of escapism that tackles some big issues in a friendly and optimistic way. “Hello Betty “is ultimately a lovely introduction to a Swiss culinary icon and an inspiring tale of a woman asserting herself and dreaming big. Moving stuff.
Written by Natalie Salvo.