Boiling Point

I watched Boiling Point last night. It’s a British indie so my boyfriend and I had to traipse into central London for a 9:30 PM viewing at a Curzon cinema. I was knackered. 

It was the most worth while cinema trip I have ever made. It is all done in a genuine single take. 95 minutes inside a small restaurant, in and out of the kitchen, out into the back, into the toilets, along the narrow bar. A busy night for a new restaurant, every character is, as the title suggests, at boiling point. It was like watching a dance. Despite the high levels of stress throughout the film, I wanted to stay in the world. 

It was so clearly such a beautiful team effort. Every performance was stunning, the writing was seamless, the atmosphere was real. I wanted to cry at the end for several reasons, some that I won’t spoil, but a lot of it was because it seemed like I had just witnessed the hard, incredible work of a lot of people. 

What’s the reason for making a film? Not least a film that won’t make millions, that won’t necessarily even reach an audience of millions. I’m not sure. But for me this film demonstrated the giddy, intense joy of creating a story and telling it well. 

And it was also a film about the innate goodness of people. That people are not evil or bad, but when they do stupid or harmful things it comes from a place of fear, pressure and vulnerability. I enjoyed a character getting a talking to until we followed her into the toilets to hear her cry. And then I wanted to cry with her. Because she wasn’t bad, just scared, misguided, alone. 

Life, even in its most intense, awful parts, can be light and funny. Even if that lightness is fleeting, it still weaves in and out of us like a sharp breath of relief. Boiling Point depicted this beautifully. 

I’m not going to tell you to go and see this film, I just wanted to share the joy I felt from watching it. My heart was in my mouth the whole time. But it was brilliant. It was people being really, really good at what they do and it felt like a privilege to have witnessed it.