Boiling point (2021)

Wow, this film reminded me of my time working in a restaurant. I have only positive things to say about it. These one-cut films can feel a bit gimmicky, but i think it worked really well here. All the characters felt believable, from the alcoholic chef to the lazy part-time employees, the racist customers, obnoxious semi-famous influencers and the cocky celebrity.

It would be awkward for a film called “boiling point” if the pace was poor, but it encapsulated the name perfectly with great pace throughout, both in the slower moments and the moments of intense build up. The ending was stressful and dramatic, and the simultaneous concern and immediate finger pointing and buck passing was realistic, depressing, and morbidly funny at the same time.

Very little is revealed about the lives of most of the characters, but we get glimpses through their conversations and actions, which adds depth to the world. Using only one cut means that it’s more difficult for any action to take place outside of the restaurant, and so we rarely go outside. This makes the atmosphere feel claustrophobic while also creating a clear sense of a work environment; we don’t know what these people get up to outside of work except for the things they choose to reveal, or are forced to reveal at work.

This window into an ongoing world, where almost the same thing happens with the same people every day, of which we only get to see an hour, also means that there are a lot of loose threads left hanging. Sometimes i find that annoying, because the film doesn’t feel wrapped up properly, but here it feels appropriate to what the film wants to convey. In the aftermath of the climax, there are still some very pressing things for the staff members to talk about, and we don’t get to know how that’s going to go down. In some ways that’s frustrating, but it’s understandable.