If I had managed to see Boiling Point during 2021, it would have certainly challenged my Top 5 of the year.
I didn't manage to catch it at a cinema near me unfortunately, so I've been waiting for it to be available to rent and finally it is available on Prime!
I was initially attracted by the fact that it features Stephen Graham but also that it is a one-shot film. If you don't know, this means what it says, it is filmed in one shot! Not in separate takes and then edited together. I find this approach to filmmaking absolutely fascinating and I'm just in awe of the preparation and work needed in order to achieve it. Recently there was a lot of talk about the film 1917 and the one-shots, which was a few long one-shots edited together. Boiling Point is just one-shot though!
Actor turned director Philip Barantini has created such an engaging and compelling drama and I look forward to following his future features.
Boiling Point is an absolute delight, is full of so much detail and so many different scenes for a one-shot film, with so many issues addressed - family, mental health, alcohol, work relationships and the challenges of working in the service industry. I grew up helping in my parents café and we didn't have table service or anything like that, but I've been in that world a bit and even at our level, it's hard work.
I love films which leave you, the audience, with questions afterwards. I don't feel that every film has to have 'closure' or finish all the strands. It depends on the content of the film, yes, but generally if I'm left wondering about anything, those are the films which I've been absorbed by the most. In Boiling Point there are a few scenes which leave you wondering how they played out, for example, difficult customers (I wanted to go over to the table myself and have it out with them!), a very touching scene between two cooks who are mother and son, all the other relationships of the staff in the restaurant and some of the customers we see too. I don't want to spoil anything but when you watch it you will understand!
I should add that whilst I was initially attracted by the casting of Stephen Graham, I found anyway, that this is an ensemble piece, which is probably one of the things which makes it work so well. To be able to achieve the one-shot everyone has to work together perfectly, everyone (that means cast and crew) has to trust each other and work as a team and it comes across so well. I've acted in plays in the past, around 15, quite a while ago now (I'd like to get back into it but that's another story!) and I know that it comes together through the hard work, dedication and trust that everyone has in each other. I think that always comes across in some way on the screen too.
It's hard to believe this film is just 95 minutes. It's the perfect length but with the way it's structured and the amount of detail, it somehow feels longer, in fact I didn't want it to stop, I wanted to know more about the lives of all the characters in the restaurant. That is the other amazing thing, in this one-shot film, with all the detail, all the tension building, you still manage to feel as if you know these characters, that you feel the heart of them all and the life in the restaurant. It all felt so real.
Absolutely worth a watch and then a re-watch and then buy the DVD when it's out!
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