BOILING POINT (15, 95 mins)
Too many cooks spoil a pungent broth in writer-director Philip Barantini's pressure cooker drama, which is shot in one unbroken take to capture simmering tensions in an east London restaurant during an eventful pre-Christmas service.
Co-written by Barantini and James A Cummings, Boiling Point loads a sprightly 95-minute running time with a bewildering array of ingredients, including drug addiction, racism, marital strife, professional jealousy and a heavily signposted medical emergency.
There are simply too many characters jostling for attention as Barantini's camera prowls a real-life eaterie that serves as a fabulously festive backdrop to myriad emotional meltdowns and home truths.
A tightly coiled central performance from Stephen Graham as a head chef teetering on the brink of a nervous breakdown is extremely tasty and he blends magnificently with Vinette Robinson as a no-nonsense second-in-command, who is constantly soothing bruised egos and fighting proverbial fires.
Both actors bark orders, trade barbs and meticulously assemble dishes as if a busy pass is their second home.
Outside of this compelling dynamic, characterisation is sketchy and the script contrives longueurs like a washer upper sneaking a cigarette as obvious dramatic pauses between fractious set-pieces.
As Yuletide approaches, staff of swanky Dalston restaurant Jones &; Sons prepare for one of the busiest services of the year.
The night begins with an environmental health officer (Thomas Coombes) downgrading the food hygiene rating to three stars, principally for lapses in paperwork.
Head chef Andy Jones (Graham) is on edge, juggling issues at home involving his young son Nathan, staff absences, and shortages of key ingredients for 100 covers.
Maitre d' Beth (Alice Feetham) allows food influencers to order steak and chips off-menu for a picture-perfect plate worthy of their 30,000 Instagram followers.
Sous chef Carly (Robinson) is apoplectic and publicly chastises Beth for caring more about her social media presence, "like a budget Kardashian", than the smooth running of the kitchen.
Andy's mood darkens when he learns that his former mentor, supercilious celebrity chef Alistair Skye (Jason Flemyng), is booked on to table four with influential food critic Sara Southworth (Lourdes Faberes).
A bigoted customer on table seven and a nut allergy on table 13 turn up the heat on commis chef Freeman (Ray Panthaki), new salad chef Camille (Izuka Hoyle) and waitress Andrea (Lauryn Ajufo) and it's only a matter of time before someone gets burnt.
Boiling Point is a technical tour de force that holds our attention in a vice-like grip even when the scripted storytelling lacks full flavour.
Barantini's high-wire direction intensifies a ball of tension in stomachs made ravenous by a steady stream of mouth-watering morsels leaving the kitchen.
However, the final 10 minutes feel contrived and overwrought after so many beautiful moments of naturalistic angst that melt on the palate.
THE 355 (12A TBC, 123 mins)
Director Simon Kinberg and co-writer Theresa Rebeck revisit the globe-trotting spy genre with a starry all-female lead cast in spectacular locations including France, Morocco and China.
A top-secret weapon, with the potential to light a fuse on a third world war, falls into the wrong hands.
Rogue CIA agent Mason "Mace" Brown (Jessica Chastain) realises the grave threat to global security and assembles a crack team of international operatives.
She approaches British computer special and former MI6 asset Khadijah (Lupita Nyong'o), German weapons specialist Marie (Diane Kruger) and Colombian psychologist Graciela (Penelope Cruz).
The four women forge a tenuous truce in pursuit of the same goal: protect the innocent.
As they navigate the globe, the group's movements are tracked by mysterious Chinese agent Lin Mi Sheng (Fan Bingbing), whose allegiances are unclear.
MUNICH - THE EDGE OF WAR (12A, 130mins)
Robert Harris's international bestseller provides the dramatic framework for a tense wartime drama directed by Christian Schwochow, set in the autumn of 1938 as Europe stands on the precipice of conflict.
Adolf Hitler (Ulrich Matthes) is preparing to invade Czechoslovakia, which would initiate hostilities across the continent.
British civil servant Hugh Legat (George MacKay) and German diplomat Paul von Hartmann (Jannis Niewohner), who are old friends from their days at Oxford, travel to an emergency conference in Munich.
They are seeking a peaceful resolution at the behest of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Jeremy Irons) and his Government.
Negotiations begin in earnest and Hugh and Paul find themselves entangled in a web of intrigue and bureaucratic subterfuge.
As the prospect of war looms, Hugh contends with fissures in his marriage to wife Pamela (Jessica Brown Findlay) while Paul yearns for the comforting embrace of his lover Helen (Sandra Huller).
THE 400 BLOWS (PG, 100 mins)
A sparkling 4K restoration of Francois Truffaut's 1959 New Wave classic revolving around alienated 12-year-old Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud), who feels unloved by his mother and stepfather and unduly terrorised by his teacher at school.
The youngster bunks off lessons with a friend and seeks fulfilment in cinemas or at the fairground.
Eventually, Antoine is expelled from school and the resourceful tyke learns to survive on the streets, trapped in a vicious cycle of crime and punishment that will carry him all the way to a juvenile detention centre.
The 400 Blows is Truffaut's most autobiographical work and kick-starts a major retrospective of his films including a re-release of 1962 romance Jules Et Jim in February.
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