Yahoo News The 100% rated kitchen show even more stressful than The Bear
Boiling Point is a sequel to a 2021 movie, but transplants the chaos of a restaurant kitchen to the small screen. It's a stressful delight.
Anybody who has seen even a few minutes of The Bear will be able to tell you just how stressful the inside of a restaurant kitchen can be. But the 2021 movie Boiling Point told that story in an even more intense fashion, weaving a 90-minute narrative through a chaotic single take — done for real.
It was a remarkable technical achievement, but also one of the most nail-biting and harrowing viewing experiences in recent memory. In 2023, director Philip Barantini, co-writer James Cummings, and the movie's star Stephen Graham joined forces to create a miniseries follow-up to the story for the BBC. You don't even have to watch the movie first.
The small screen version of Boiling Point sends Graham's character to the sidelines, with his sous-chef Carly (Vinette Robinson) now running her own London restaurant based on Northern cuisine. Most of the other characters from the film are now working for her, but money is tight and the pressure cranks up over the course of the story.
What the critics thought
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes lists a 100% approval rating for the show among the professional critics who wrote about it. Among those positive notices was Anita Singh of The Telegraph, who described the series as "ferociously good" and ranked it among the best TV shows of the year.
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Writing for Empire Magazine, Boyd Hilton praised the wider focus the show has on the inner lives and struggles of its characters. He concluded: "If the series occasionally feels almost too stressful to enjoy, that’s a testament to just how realistic it is."
Watch: Trailer for the Boiling Point TV series
Martin Carr wrote for Yahoo and was one of many to note that the "naturalistic" performances work to increase the tense atmosphere of the restaurant.
He added: "The intermittent one-shot structure injects this show with momentum and cranks up tensions over time. This approach makes the most of this pressurised environment drawing out drama and delivering personal moments amongst the mayhem."
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It's fair to say that critics were unanimous in their praise for Boiling Point, which exceeded the reach of the film on which it was based. Over the course of four hours, it won plenty of fans for Barantini's visual invention and the richness of the characters at the heart of his drama.
Yahoo’s take
Just when I thought Uncut Gems would be the most stressful cinema experience ever, I saw Boiling Point. And when I thought nothing could get as stressful as that, I saw the Boiling Point TV series. Barantini mostly abandons the single-take structure of the film — though he and fellow director Mounia Akl choose to deploy it occasionally — but that doesn't provide a release valve for the tension.
Read more: BBC issues statement on Boiling Point sound issues (Yahoo Entertainment)
The true power of Boiling Point in its TV form, though, is in its ability to make its audience invest in every single member of the ensemble.
We feel for out-of-his-depth new chef Johnny (Stephen Odubola) as his blunders risk calamity — watch that sauce bottle in episode one. We follow waitress Robyn (Áine Rose Daly) as she hides a personal secret from everybody. We watch as Camille (Izuka Hoyle) is forced to brush off the lecherous advances of new sous-chef Nick (Steven Ogg). Pastry chef Jamie (Stephen McMillan) continues to struggle with his mental health.
Every shade of the restaurant experience comes to the fore throughout Boiling Point, with Barantini and Cummings relishing the opportunity to write more expansive scripts. While the movie only introduced us to supporting characters within the context of that particular night, the TV show explores them in more detail and as the people behind the whites and aprons.
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There aren't many TV shows that provide such an intimate and immersive journey into a workplace as unique as the kitchen of a high-end restaurant. The glamour out in the dining area sits in stark contrast to the constantly swirling chaos behind the doors of the kitchen,
America might have The Bear and its armfuls of awards, but Britain has the ultimate pressure-cooker kitchen show in Boiling Point.
Essential info
Boiling Point runs for just four episodes, which are each an hour long. So if you can stand the stress and heat of the kitchen for that long, it's a perfect binge-watch. All four episodes are available to stream right now on BBC iPlayer.
If you want to see how the story started, the Boiling Point film is available to rent or buy on video-on-demand platforms, including Prime Video, Sky Store, Apple TV, and Google Play. Or if you want to go right back to the start, the short film that inspired the feature is also on BBC iPlayer for your viewing pleasure — or stress.
As for the future, both Stephen Graham and director Philip Barantini told Radio Times they're keen to return to the kitchen for more. They even provided some detail about potential future stories, suggesting a conflict around tips in the restaurant could be a key issue.
Read more: Will there be a season 2 of Boiling Point? (Cosmopolitan)
Barantini said: "There’s always scope to change things around and I would love to explore the characters more. I don’t want to completely tie everything up in a bow because that’s not what I’m about but … [another series] would be lovely."
Boiling Point is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.
