Boiling Point (2021)

Dir Philip Barantini    

Written by Philip Barantini, James Cummings

Stephen Graham, Vinette Robinson, Alice Feetham, Ray Panthaki, Hannah Walters, Jason Flemyng, Lourdes Faberes.

On a busy night in a London restaurant, Chef Andy (Graham) must contend with his faltering personal life, but also his micromanaging boss (Feetham), a visiting food critic (Faberes) and his investor ready to pull the pin (Flemyng).

The performers all do an amazing job, from those who are barely in any scenes (like the pretentious customer on table seven), to those who are in just a few more (the food safety auditor) – right to Andy and Carly his sous chef (Robinson), who are running the kitchen with all their heart and souls.

This was an astonishingly well made movie, considering how it was made. Shot in a single take, without any cuts – it was filmed in a real life restaurant – with no non diegetic sound – it adds to the drama that the characters are going through.

With a British cast, I was mostly unfamiliar with most of their work (save for Graham and Flemyng due to their past history with Guy Ritchie), I was thoroughly impressed with all of their work.

This was based on a short film by the same name, and has since been had a continuation of a short mini-series which will follow Carly – which I intend to find and watch – as she was a strong character.

Not having any access to his work, as he primarily works in the UK, I found Graham to be very talented, and believable as the head chef Andy. While we don’t see these cast members really ‘cooking’ and only the plating is seen – they really do seem like they were comfortable in the environment of a kitchen.

The pressure of the kitchen is felt through the screen as well, not just from the barrage of orders constantly coming through, but also from all the variables that comes with it as well (customers, management, owners, safety inspectors), so the emotion that Andy and Carly feel are real and sympathetic.

Very well made film, and I highly recommend.

4/5