Nineteen-year-old Anthony Bourdain (Dominic Sessa) stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that shapes the course of his life.

A Life Takes Shapes

Directed by Matt Johnson and starring Dominic Sessa as the young Anthony ‘Tony’ Bourdain, A24’s biographical drama Tony is a revealing portrait of a young man standing at the precipice of adulthood. Set largely around Bourdain’s formative experiences in Provincetown, Massachusetts, the film explores where the rock ’n’ roll energy, rebellious spirit and fascination with the kitchen that would ultimately define his life first began to take shape.

A Talent Unleashed

Dominic Sessa is superb. There is an inherent cockiness to his portrayal, but beneath the bravado lies a deeply insecure young man desperately trying to figure himself out. He captures Bourdain’s neurosis, narcissism and vulnerability with remarkable precision, creating a performance that feels less like an impersonation and more like an excavation of the person beneath the persona.

This is, ultimately, a coming-of-age story. Tony stumbles through failures, young love, an unrelenting mother and the messy realities of growing up, slowly discovering that the kitchen might offer him something he cannot find anywhere else: purpose. His eventual breakthrough at the Culinary Institute of America feels less like the beginning of his career than the first glimpse of the man he will become.

Adding in the Flavour

The supporting cast is equally strong. Antonio Banderas steals virtually every scene as José Vatel, the charismatic restaurant owner who gives young Tony an opportunity, bringing a wonderfully comic and endearing energy to the role. Leo Woodall, meanwhile, delivers a suitably belligerent and cocky performance as young chef Sal, and then there’s the kitchen itself which becomes a character; volatile, testosterone-fuelled and filled with the kind of frenetic chef antics that make restaurant life feel simultaneously exhilarating and utterly exhausting.

Turning up the Tempo

There is a wicked rhythm to Tony. Johnson gives the film a restless pulse, while the soundtrack does much of the heavy lifting in transporting us into the atmosphere of the mid-1970s. It crackles with the energy of a young man who has no idea where he is going, but knows he needs to go somewhere.

Final Verdict: Finding Purpose in the Heat of the Kitchen

Interestingly, Tony is quite different from what I expected. This isn’t really a film about cooking. It is about the man before Anthony Bourdain became Anthony Bourdain. And that makes it all the more fascinating. Tony is a scrappy, intimate and occasionally bruising portrait of creative potential in its infancy, and it’s a film that leaves you wanting more. A second chapter exploring the man who emerged from this formative period would be very welcome indeed, and for true cinema aficionados there’s a lot to love here in Tony.

Image: A24 Films

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