Review: Boiling Point
Blu-ray: Boiling Point (2021)
During its intense and entirely captivating 90 minutes, Boiling Point will leave you wanting to let off some steam as the end credits roll, after your tension levels have been pushed to their limits as you watch head chef Andy Jones (Stephen Graham) try and keep control of his team on the restaurants busiest night of the year.
Filmed in one continuous 90 minute take (no hidden edits here) writer/director Philip Barantini completely immerses you into the life of Andy Jones, to the point where you stop becoming the viewer of a movie and become an etherial soul shadowing a man whose life is spiralling out of control, all in plain view of the staff and customers around him, but who can not see it as clearly as we can.
I’ve never seen Stephen Graham never be anything less than captivating on screen, and once again he drew me into his character, loving and hating him in equal measure as the nuances of his life unfolded before me.
It is not just Stephen who shines in this though, in fact I’d go so far as to say that it is Vinette Robinson who stole the movie for me. Her character going through virtually every emotion imaginable, and each of them so convincingly portrayed that I began to feel them with her.
Barantini’s time as both an actor and a chef were the perfect ingredients to create this extremely tasty visual and aural treat. The camera fluidly moving around everything, but with none of that “shaky cam” annoyance that has spoiled so many past movies for me, the complete lack of fast cut editing (and indeed any editing at all) all helping to keep the viewer completely locked in and invested in everything happening before them.
There are times when you “think” that you know what is going to happen, but then, as in real life, events take an unexpected tangent and you’re left trying to cope with something that you are not prepared for.
I can’t recommend Boiling Point enough, especially in this new release from Second Sight Films, who (as previous reviews of their releases have confirmed) always take the greatest care over their output both with picture/sound quality, as well as packaging and special features.
Add this to your collection ASAP when it’s released on 21st November 2022.
Special Features:
- Audio commentary with producers Hester Ruoff, Bart Ruspoli and Writer James Cummings
- Audio commentary with actors Ray Panthaki and Jason Flemyng
- Boiling Over: an interview with Hester Ruoff
- Pot Boiler: an interview with Bart Ruspoli
- Simmering Steady: an interview with James Cummings
- The Making of Boiling Point
Limited Edition Contents
- Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Andrew Bannister
- 70-page soft cover book with new essays by Howard Gorman, Clarisse Loughrey and Christina Newland plus exclusive interview with Cinematographer Matthew Lewis by Matthew Thrift
- 6 collectors’ art cards
Review by Dave from a disc kindly supplied by Second Sight Films via Aim Publicity.