Boiling Point – Intense Pressure Filled Movie
Director: Philip Barantini
Writer: Philip Barantini, James Cummings (Screenplay)
Starring: Stephen Graham, Vinette Robinson, Alice Feetham, Jason Flemyng, Hannah Walters, Malachi Kirby
Plot: Enter the relentless pressure of a restaurant kitchen as a head chef wrangles his team on the busiest day of the year.
Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Boiling Point starts as we see head chef Andy Jones (Graham) dealing with his personally problems, before heading into a busy Friday night in the restaurant kitchen. Learning his kitchen has slipped in standards, he must pull his team together with his trusted second Carly (Robinson) to make this night a success.
As the night unfolds the team will face the different levels of pressure they are facing, with the mix of the people who have this a career and the casual reactions of the people who have it just as a job, along with the customers, making each decision more difficult for the kitchen.
Thoughts on Boiling Point
Characters & Performances – Andy Jones is the head chef at a busy restaurant, he has worked for some of the biggest names in the industry, but it is his personal life which has caused him to start making the mistakes about the standards in the kitchen. He is strict with his team, while offering the help when they need it, even if he doesn’t have the greatest people skills, when it comes to the customers. Carly is the trusted second to Andy, she will always step up when he isn’t around, while she is expecting a chance to get an equal pay in the kitchen. Beth is the restaurant manager that finds herself needing to keep the waiting team and kitchen team together, while dealing with the endless stupid demands by the customers, all with an added smile on her face. Over the night, we meet the whole kitchen team who have different problems, struggling with the pressure of making the perfect meal each time, the waiting team that have to deal with customers, with Andrea facing the abuse from customers, without being able to say anything, going hand in had with the jolly nature of Robyn. The customers are pointed out to show the worst imagined, be it the racist big white man, the cocky fake influencers who think they could get anything, along with an every day allergy which can change the menu slightly. The movie has fantastic performances with Stephen Graham giving one of the best of his career and a stunning supporting cast through the film that grab the moments to shine in every moment.
Story – The story here will real time follow a kitchen team preparing for a busy night in a restaurant, where the night is filled with added pressure in an already intense environment. The way this movie is shot is amazing, following different members of the team around during the night, seeing the different individual problems they are facing on each interaction with the team or with customers, showing they must maintain an appearance within this world, despite what might be going wrong in it. This will put the spotlight on everyday personal problems co-workers could be hiding from each other, ones they might not want to talk about until people learn about them, which is done on a level, that makes such an impact. If we look at just how the operation is run in the story, it shows how difficult the job can be, with customers only making it more difficult along the way.
Themes – Boiling Point is an intense thriller that will keep the whole movie within the building area of the restaurant, from behind the kitchen, to the waiting floor, as we see how the operation comes together, with the behind the scenes problems people will be facing along the way. The film will use the real-time concept to make everything unfold, which adds to the intensity faced behind the scenes compared to the ones in the serving area.
Final Thoughts – Boiling Point is a brilliant intense, pressure filled experience, that you simply can’t look away from.