TONY (2026)

Genre: Biography/Drama
Director: Matt Johnson
Cast: Dominic Sessa, Emilia Jones, Dagmara Dominczyk, Rich Sommers, Stavros Halkias, Leo Woodall, Antonio Banderas 
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language and Drug Use)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 27 August 2026

Synopsis: A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life.

Movie Review:

This reviewer is not exactly a foodie, but there is one image of Anthony Bourdain that always comes to mind: the photograph of him sitting across from Barack Obama at a small Hanoi restaurant, both casually enjoying bowls of bun cha over a beer.

The unlikely dinner between the former US president and the globe-trotting chef took place in May 2016 while Obama was visiting Vietnam, and Bourdain famously picked up the US$6 bill. Looking at that photograph made this reviewer think about all the food he had enjoyed while travelling and, perhaps a little enviously, what a life it must have been to travel the world, eat wonderful food and tell stories for a living.

Tony, however, goes back long before Bourdain became the larger-than-life personality the world came to know. Directed by Matt Johnson, the film focuses on the 19-year-old Bourdain during a formative summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen. What begins as a young man's attempt to find direction becomes a transformative experience that sets him on a path towards the culinary world.

This is an easy-to-watch coming-of-age story, and one of its greatest pleasures is seeing the person before the persona. There is no need for the film to constantly remind us that this awkward young man will eventually become Anthony Bourdain. Instead, it allows Dominic Sessa to play him as someone still trying to figure out what he wants from life, even going as far as lying about receiving a writing fellowship. Sessa is excellent at capturing Bourdain's youthful arrogance, insecurity and curiosity, making it easy to believe that this restless young man could eventually become the storyteller millions would come to love.

Antonio Banderas effortlessly slips into the role of a mentor figure who recognises something in the young Bourdain and helps shape his understanding of food, work and discipline. Leo Woodall, meanwhile, oozes bad-boy charm as the daredevil of the kitchen, bringing a dangerous energy that makes his character both fascinating and unpredictable.

Those who enjoyed the adrenaline rush of the kitchen scenes in The Bear may find Tony even more claustrophobic. The kitchen is tighter, rougher, greasier and sweatier, with no glamorous plates of fine dining to admire. Instead, there are fish and chips, oysters and clam chowder being churned out under pressure. Watching the cooks work relentlessly in such conditions gives you an entirely different respect for the people who spend their days and nights in professional kitchens.

What makes Tony work is that it does not attempt to explain everything about Bourdain. It simply captures a period when he was still becoming himself. That makes the film feel less like a conventional cradle-to-grave biopic and more like a snapshot of the experiences that could eventually shape a remarkable life. It is almost comforting to see that someone who would become so confident and distinctive was once just another young person fumbling his way through life.

Of course, knowing what eventually happened adds a layer of melancholy to the experience. Bourdain died by suicide in France in June 2018 at the age of 61 while working on Parts Unknown. The film wisely does not turn his death into its emotional endpoint, choosing instead to celebrate the young man before the world knew his name.

Yet it is difficult not to wonder what Bourdain himself might have thought about an autobiographical film covering the rest of his life. Would he have embraced it, criticised it or simply laughed at the idea of someone trying to capture him on screen?

Perhaps that is why Tony works best by stopping before the legend fully emerges. It leaves us with the more interesting question: who was Anthony Bourdain before he became Anthony Bourdain?

Movie Rating:

(Far from fine dining, Tony serves up a rough, greasy and surprisingly heartfelt portrait of Anthony Bourdain's formative years)

Review by John Li