Boiling Point (2021) -
This is an excellent "anxiety movie" in the same vein as
Uncut Gems that occurs in a place where it is never in short supply: a restaurant kitchen. What’s more, there's tension in every facet imaginable, and thankfully, none of it seems contrived. Where to begin: the health score just got downgraded, the manager is more interested in the restaurant's social media presence than her employees' needs, a dishwasher is two hours late, a customer is berating the wait staff, a celebrity chef (Flemyng) with whom head chef Andy (Graham) has a strained relationship is not only there, but also with a food critic, one of the chefs is still learning English, etc. Oh, and it's the holidays. As the running time indicates, it's a lean and mean movie, but it manages to make time to humanize the key players without diluting the momentum. It's smart enough to do this right away with Andy failing to call his son - likely something that happens frequently - as well as in a wrenching closed-door scene where the manager breaks down and reveals her cluelessness after the staff berates her. The movie is filmed in one take, a technique that often calls too much attention to itself, but director Barantini and company put it to good use here. The action is perhaps too involving to ever remove you from it anyway, but I credit the movie for how elegantly it passes the baton, if you will, between each character of focus. As for the performances, this may prove the statement that the best acting occurs in close quarters, with Graham's sometimes Gordon Ramsay, sometimes Paul Hollywood and always on the verge of breaking down head chef being the standout. I was also impressed by Panthaki and Robinson, who play the most vocal and rightfully frustrated chefs.
The service industry is hell - especially when you add social media to the mix - which this movie ably reinforces. Filmed during the pandemic, Barantini and crew likely had the same kind of problems as the restaurant staff it depicts, especially since it prevented them from getting every take they wanted. While this chaos enhances the movie’s, it is rough around the edges here and there as a result. Other than that, it is a more than welcome addition to this subgenre the Safdies gifted us with, the impact on our blood pressure notwithstanding. Thankfully, now that the pandemic is over, it's nice that restaurant workers can breathe sighs of relief now (just kidding).
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