The 'one-shot' movie has become more prevalent over the years, as digital film has made such endeavours less technically fraught. While the most famous examples have some trickery (Birdman and Hitchcock's Rope had hidden edits), many filmmakers have taken on the arduous task of filming an entire movie in one take. The latest is British filmmaker Philip Barantini with
The smarmy, patronising tones of the health inspector are enough to make your skin crawl, but it turns out to be the tip of an anxiety iceberg. Everywhere the camera goes, there seems to be a new issue exploding or a new character to dislike - a racist patron, a demanding food blogger, not to mention Andy's former boss, celebrity chef
This is not to say Barantini creates an us vs them atmosphere. Everyone has a story, and a breaking point, glimpsed in beautifully captured moments such as an embattled manager calling her father from the loo, or a pastry chef fighting back the tears after discovering something about a colleague. It's perfect chaos, a story that shows the struggle of just getting through a shift. The camera work is deceptively simple, moving elegantly back and forth from dining room to kitchen, while also managing the shifts in tone.
More impressive than the technical prowess are the performances found in every corner. Outside of the lead, Robinson's
Exchanges come thick and fast, but everyone makes it count - none more so than Graham. It would be easy to do a
The trouble with constantly building the stakes is that you risk going too far. The third act contains a crescendo of misfortune that's - ahem - hard to swallow, but by this point you'll be too invested to pick holes. For the most part,
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