Highlights
- Stephen Graham stars in Boiling Point, now streaming on Netflix
- The 2021 film was directed by Philip Barantini, who later directed all four episodes of Adolescence
- The drama was filmed in one continuous shot and received a 99% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes
- Its success later led to a BBC spin-off series
Stephen Graham fans looking for their next watch after Adolescence have another acclaimed drama to add to their list.
Boiling Point, the 2021 film starring Graham as a troubled head chef, is now streaming on Netflix. The film has a particularly strong connection to Adolescence, as both were directed by Philip Barantini.
Stephen Graham stars as a chef on the brink
In Boiling Point, Graham plays Andy Jones, a head chef trying to keep his restaurant team together during its busiest day of the year.
Andy is already dealing with problems in his personal life when a series of setbacks inside the restaurant sends the pressure spiralling. The film follows the growing chaos as the staff struggle to keep the service running.
The drama was filmed in a single continuous shot, creating an increasingly tense experience as events unfold in real time.
Barantini later used a similar filmmaking approach for Adolescence, the Netflix drama in which Graham played the father of a teenage boy accused of murdering a female classmate.
The film became a critical hit
Boiling Point was largely improvised and workshopped rather than relying entirely on a conventional script. The cast spent two weeks rehearsing before filming, with the production reportedly taking just four takes to complete the version used for the film.
Graham previously described the one-take method as a challenging experience that allowed actors to push themselves and collaborate in an unconventional way.
The approach paid off with critics. Boiling Point currently holds a 99% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's consensus praising its tense storytelling and bold formal approach.
The film also received four BAFTA nominations, including Outstanding British Film and a Leading Actor nomination for Graham.
‘Boiling Point’ went beyond the film
The success of Boiling Point did not end with the feature film. The BBC later commissioned a four-part television spin-off.
Set six months after the events of the movie, the series shifts the focus to Carly, played by Vinette Robinson, who is now running her own restaurant, Point North.
The series brought back several members of the original film's cast and expanded the story beyond Andy's restaurant.
For viewers who discovered Graham through Adolescence, Boiling Point offers a chance to see the actor in another intense, pressure-filled performance — while also exploring the filmmaking style that helped Philip Barantini become the director behind one of Netflix's most talked-about dramas.
