Shot just before the pandemic, Boiling Point follows the ever-excellent Stephen Graham as a tough put-upon head chef in a busy restaurant on a Friday night before Christmas; as well as Graham, the rest of the cast of very individual characters create a fascinating patchwork of stories across the evening. The draw here is the single-camera/one-take approach, which gives the film not only its fly-on-the-wall real-time documentary feel but also keeps viewer attention with its constant movement and flow, with both direction and writing keeping the shift of story focus moving along very effectively indeed. In the midst of the busy action there are some beautifully-created small moments that hit hard, and as the evening wears on the tension between the kitchen, front-of-house and different customers provides genuine interest, leading to an amazing ensemble scene about fifteen minutes from the end and a disturbing conclusion. With its handful of limited-space locations and talented cast deftly deployed, Boiling Point is one of those cinematic experiments that pays off..
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