Tony (2026)

Tony works best as a coming-of-age hangout movie, even if the Anthony Bourdain story lurking underneath it deserves something considerably deeper.

Many will go into Matt Johnson’s Tony having read Kitchen Confidential, the bestselling memoir of legendary chef Anthony Bourdain, and will be well versed in the film’s subject. But you’d be just as qualified going in knowing nothing at all, and usually that’s the sign of a good biopic.

Tony plays like a coming-of-age tale, and although it’s been sold as an adaptation of Kitchen Confidential, it takes the book’s first few chapters and arranges them into an origin story of sorts for the infamous Bourdain. Dominic Sessa is perfectly cast as the titular chef, building on his superb breakout performance in Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers (2023). After failing to get a residential summer writing scholarship he thought was in the bag, Tony escapes his family and travels to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod, chasing Nancy (Emilia Jones), a girl he has a crush on and is spending the summer there.

After being thrown out of a bar following the revelation that Nancy has a boyfriend, he has his remaining money stolen before Antonio Banderas’ ‘Chef’ takes pity on him and dumps him in a hammock on his back porch. Events then conspire so that Tony is allowed to stay on in the hammock for a short while, paying his rent by helping in Chef’s kitchen. There’s plenty of artistic license taken in Johnson’s film, and those who’ve read Kitchen Confidential will spot it all, yet Tony effectively transposes stories that permeate the memoir into a single ninety-minute summer, and one would assume that if you’re unfamiliar with Bourdain, it’s easy to go along with it.

Indeed, this is a thoroughly enjoyable hang-out movie. Banderas looks enormously comfortable in a kitchen setting, and his gruff yet loving demeanour ensures you're constantly rooting for the friendship that slowly blossoms between Chef and Tony. The supporting cast are all solid, including Leo Woodall, who plays bad boy Sal, and one who introduces Tony into the world of illegal drugs. Bourdain’s addiction struggles are well known, and one of the weak points of the film is that it never delves into this, only briefly nodding towards it as Tony spots a heroin dealer at the harbour, as foreboding music plays in the background.

But this is a film that isn’t focused on that part of Bourdain’s life; instead concentrating on one single summer that transformed his life and gave him the kitchen bug. Knowing that Bourdain took his own life in 2018 (a fact that isn’t mentioned in the post-credits) adds another layer of problematic critical debate in terms of how much more could have been unpacked in Johnson’s film, one that barely reaches an hour and forty minutes. And there is a mention of Francois Vatel, chef to Louis XIV, who killed himself in shame when the key ingredients failed to turn up in time for a banquet, which feels like a nod to those in the know, but otherwise might feel slightly forced.

But, as it is, Tony is entertaining and enormously watchable. You want to spend time with all these characters as well as drool over some of the food that’s on display. Whether it has the depth that the full story of Bourdain has to offer is another question. In the end, ultimately Tony is a warm dish, served in style and one that gives you a thoroughly satisfying night out. It might not stay with you as long as you’d wish, but when it’s in front of you, it’s there to be enjoyed. ★★★½ 7.7/10