Boiling Point is a British drama signed by Philip Barantini and which is an expansion of his eponymous short film from 2019, in which he also starred Stephen Graham. The film premiered at the 55th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, while the cinema distribution started about ten days ago. The entire film was shot in one continuous shot lasting ninety minutes.
Boiling Point movie review and plot
The plot of the film follows Andy Jones (Graham), the head chef at a popular and posh London restaurant. He and his team have a very busy evening ahead of them, which begins with a sudden visit by the inspector for health and safety at work, who reduces grades because of irregularities in the kitchen. Andy tries to control his diverse staff, to alleviate tensions between kitchen workers and other employees, but also to satisfy the various demands of his guests. In that stressful environment, his personal and professional crises come to light.
Simply put, Boiling Point is a drama that follows what is happening “behind the scenes” in a busy and crowded restaurant. The story simply observes all the relationships and conflicts that take place in this work environment and everything we see is presented to us with an impressive, at times unpleasant degree of credibility and persuasiveness. From the moment Andy enters the kitchen, we are drawn into an exciting and stressful world that most of us know little about.
Our central figure has private problems that we find out about at the very beginning because he has a conflict with his wife because Andy missed their son’s sports competition. An evening awaits him that would be stressful enough to be at its best, and personal problems further hinder him. Andy spends the whole evening on the verge of collapse, and everything that happens at work further suggests that he will reach the “boiling point” – the restaurant’s health rating has dropped, chefs are on the verge of giving up, the manager annoys everyone who works there, the restaurant is full enough staff, while supplies in the kitchen are small.
The camera mostly follows Andy while occasionally accentuating episodic characters to highlight individual employees, guests or current issues. Among them are a dishwasher who tries not to work, a group of influencers who want to order off the menu, a guest with allergies, a racist wine connoisseur, but also the famous chef Alistair, who was once Andy’s boss and took a sharp food critic with him. The author’s intricate plot logistics ensure that there is almost always some hectic activity, even in the background or edges of the frames.
Objectively speaking, the story is very thin, but it always has feelings of pressure and stress that compensate for the weaker story. This is supported by the intensity of the film, which does not abate until the very end, as well as the fact that we are gradually realizing that we are looking at a real technical and logistical achievement. The acting performances are impressive, not because every actor or actress creates a colorful, unique and firmly defined character, but also because of the way they balance the hard work of working in a restaurant.
Boiling Point is a hectic kitchen drama that was realized with a continuous 90-minute shot – a realistic film that honestly and directly presents the tense and stressful work of restaurant workers. Final rating: 8/10. Release date January 7, 2022 (United Kingdom)
Boiling Point movie cast and characters
- Stephen Graham as Andy Jones
- Vinette Robinson as Carly
- Alice Feetham as Beth
- Hannah Walters as Emily
- Malachi Kirby as Tony
- Izuka Hoyle as Camille
- Taz Skylar as Billy
- Lauryn Ajufo as Andrea
- Jason Flemyng as Alastair Skye
- Ray Panthaki as Freeman
- Lourdes Faberes as Sara Southworth
- Aine Rose Daly as Robyn
source: imdb
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