Directed by: Matt Johnson
Starring: Dominic Sessa, Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones
Release Date: August 21, 2026
Platform: Theatrical
Rating: 8.5/10
By Johnny Kristoffersen
“Even the people who seem destined for greatness often begin as confused young adults searching for where they belong.”
Before Anthony Bourdain hosted the show Parts Unknown, before being the executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles, and before writing Kitchen Confidential, there was just Tony: an arrogant young man who chases a girl to Provincetown in 1975, where he lands a job as a dishwasher at a local restaurant and unexpectedly falls in love with cooking. It’s one of the most authentic biopics we’ve had in years, and it’s a funny, heartfelt coming-of-age story that may make you fall in love with cooking too.
Matt Johnson, who also directed Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie, approaches TONY with a quiet confidence. He doesn’t try to follow the usual biopic formula and instead focuses on the period when Bourdain first discovered his passion for cooking. He lets the different personalities of these characters take center stage and uses the kitchen and cooking as a central focal point throughout the movie, making it feel less like a workspace and more like a second home.
At 19 years old, Bourdain believes he has the world figured out. He has aspirations to be a writer and doesn’t have any doubts that he will achieve this. He knows what his future will bring, but he slowly realizes how much he still has to learn. This brings growth to the character and shows a side of Bourdain that not many people know.
The Flagship, the local seafood restaurant where Tony starts working, is a huge setting within the film. Here, Bourdain starts as a dishwasher and, through certain events, slowly rises up the ranks, but not without a few hiccups, including developing a drug habit, getting into fights, and stealing from others. Tony is a troubled kid who, on the outside, tries to keep his composure, but in reality, he isn’t sure of what he’s doing. Cooking not only gives Tony purpose but also saves him from becoming like others around him, and he slowly builds a brotherhood with the other cooks. Tony falls in love with restaurant life and uses his creativity to start building beautiful dishes.
Dominic Sessa embodies the look and attitude of Bourdain so well. Bourdain once wrote that he was a “spoiled, miserable, narcissist” who was “badly in need of a good ass-kicking,” and Sessa plays up to this well. From the first moments on screen, he has an arrogance about him, talking down to others, and through only a few short weeks in the summer of 1975, we see Tony slowly mature into someone who finds his purpose in the kitchen. Sessa is still somewhat of a newer actor on the scene, only being in a handful of movies, but this is his best performance yet, and his opportunities will only rise from here.
There are also supporting roles from Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones, and Leo Woodall, with Banderas being the standout here in his best live-action role in over a decade. He plays the head chef at the restaurant and slowly becomes a mentor to Tony, almost like a second father figure. His patience and love for not only cooking but for the people he is cooking for help Tony understand that being a great chef isn’t just about making great food but about caring for the people around you.
Emilia Jones and Leo Woodall are the yin and yang in Bourdain’s life. Jones plays Nancy, the girl Tony chases to Provincetown. She is the future that Tony believes he wants and the catalyst for everything else in Tony’s life at this time, while Woodall is the complete opposite. He’s another chef who is a bad influence on Tony. He introduces Tony to a kitchen culture that is reckless and drug-fueled and shows Tony another future that he doesn’t want to go down. These two are significant in Tony’s life and fuel him into becoming the person he is by the end.
More than anything, TONY is about discovering purpose. It explores perseverance, acceptance, and the realization that success isn’t something achieved alone. Whether through the kitchen staff, mentorship, or relationships, the film reminds us that the family we choose can be just as important as the one we’re born into. And that’s what this becomes: a family. There are fights, disagreements, and times when they hate each other, but overall, they have each other’s backs and want to do right by one another.
The one downside, and I wouldn’t even say it’s a major downside, is that we’re only getting the beginning of Bourdain’s career. We see one summer, and that’s it. It isn’t necessarily bad by any means, but the average Bourdain fan knows him from his later career traveling the world and introducing us to different cultures through food. At times, it feels less like a story that could only be told about Anthony Bourdain and more like a relatable coming-of-age story set in a kitchen about anyone.
TONY is focused on one small snippet of Anthony Bourdain’s life, the part that we don’t see in the TV shows or books. It’s a reminder that even the people who seem destined for greatness often begin as confused young adults searching for where they belong. It’s a film that many will relate to, and even if you didn’t know the man or any of his accomplishments, you still gain a better appreciation for those persevering through hard times.
