Boiling Point has now arrived on Netflix UK so more people are discovering the intense single-shot drama, led by Stephen Graham.
Based on the short of the same name, the movie sees Graham play struggling London chef Andy Jones, who tries to keep his restaurant running smoothly on the busiest day of the year, all while his own personal troubles threaten everything.
It's a compelling and exhausting 90 minutes that barely gives you a moment to breathe, although will also make you feel very hungry looking at the dishes served up. Things culminate in a heated argument and an ambiguous final shot.
What to Read Next
So let's delve into Boiling Point's ending to explain how the most stressful day of Andy's life pans out. If you haven't seen the movie yet, there will be major spoilers ahead.
Boiling Point ending explained
Andy's shift doesn't exactly start off in the best way as he's informed that his restaurant is being downgraded to a 3-star health and safety rating. It's largely his fault for poor record-keeping, but it becomes clear that's not his only problem.
He's currently separated from his wife and son as a result of his struggles with alcohol, which continue throughout the shift. Various problems crop up over the course of the evening, including the arrival of Andy's former boss Alastair (Jason Flemyng), who shows up with a food critic.
Alastair gifted Andy £200,000 to open his restaurant, but now that Alastair is facing severe debt, he wants Andy to either repay the money or go into business with him again as a form of repayment.
Andy's team, including sous-chef Carly (Vinette Robinson) and Freeman (Ray Panthaki), try to keep things ticking over, but things soon reach... boiling point. Even though they were pre-warned, a guest with a nut allergy suffers an allergic reaction to Carly's food and has to be taken to the hospital.
Andy calls a team meeting to get to the bottom of what happened and soon clashes with Freeman, who confronts him over his drinking, his constant lateness and every other error we've seen him make. Carly breaks up their argument before it comes to blows, but tells Andy that she's had enough and is leaving.
Andy confesses to her that Alastair wanted him to pin the blame on Carly so that Alastair could become his new partner. However, Andy knows that it was his fault as he told the pantry chef to use the garnish containing walnut oil as a substitute.
With the future of his restaurant in doubt, Andy goes to his office where he takes some cocaine and continues drinking. In an emotional call to his wife, Andy promises that he'll change and that he'll go to rehab, before the final scene sees Andy collapse on the floor.
He presumably suffers a heart attack as a result of his drink-and-drugs intake on top of the sheer stress of the evening. Andy is found by panicked members of staff, but the credits roll before we see what his ultimate fate is. It probably depends how positive you're feeling whether he survives or not.
Director James Barantini – who also wrote the movie with James Cummings – hasn't been drawn on whether Andy survives the worst evening of his life. But he did note to The Book of Man that the movie was loosely inspired by his own life.
"I've been sober for almost seven years now, but during my time in kitchens, when I was drinking and doing all that, I was in a dark place," he explained.
"One of the main reasons why I wanted to make this film the way I did it was to shine a light on society so people can relate to it and see themselves in it, or notice these things in somebody else that they know, and say, 'Look, are you OK?'.
"The theme of the movie is everybody has two masks, right? The forward-facing mask can be happy and the nicest person in the world, but then everybody has the private mask when they go home at night, or in private moments.
"I wanted to show that, so somebody can watch it and know they're not alone, that everybody is dealing with something at some point in their lives and that there is help out there."
Boiling Point is available to watch on Netflix UK.
Rambert/Birmingham Hippodrome/The Lowry/Caryn Mandabach Productions Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby tickets (London dates)
![Peaky Blinders - The Complete Collection [DVD]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1646776465-5138UhgSRLL._SL500_.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Peaky Blinders - The Complete Collection [DVD]")
Michael O'Mara By Order of the Peaky Blinders: The Official Companion to the Hit TV Series
TruffleShuffle Peaky Blinders 'Garrison Tavern' drinks tumblers
BBC Peaky Blinders: Series 1
BBC Peaky Blinders: Series 2
BBC Peaky Blinders: Series 3
BBC Peaky Blinders: Series 4
!['Red Right Hand' by Nick Cave [Theme from Peaky Blinders]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1565596038-51jx2BBIu2ML.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "'Red Right Hand' by Nick Cave [Theme from Peaky Blinders]")
Mute Records 'Red Right Hand' by Nick Cave [Theme from Peaky Blinders]
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
