‘TONY’: Anthony Bourdain’s Love of Food Begins in the Kitchen

Directed by: Matt Johnson

Screenplay by: Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller, Todd Bartels and Lou Howe

Produced by: Tim White, Trevor White, Matthew Miller, Matt Johnson

Starring: Dominic Sessa, Emilia Jones, Dagmara Domińczyk, Rich Sommers, Stavros Halkias, with Leo Woodall and Antonio Banderas

Run Time: 106 minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: August 7, 2026

I’m a big fan of food and can easily give in to my big back temptations. There are plenty of people like me who simply love to eat. Then there are people like Anthony Bourdain, who didn’t just cook food but educated people about it, experienced different cultures through it, and understood the people behind it.

That’s part of what made Bourdain so special and why his death in 2018 was so tragic and shocking. With TONY, we get a glimpse—creatively exaggerated at times, of course—into his early life, his growing passion for the art of cooking, and his respect for the people who dedicate their lives to perfecting it.

Dominic Sessa Finds the Swagger Behind Bourdain

Dominic Sessa is great as Anthony “Tony” Bourdain. He captures the arrogance, confidence, and restless energy of a young man who hasn’t quite figured out what he wants to do with his life. He’s a slick talker, charming when he needs to be, and even a little manipulative.

One thing I noticed about Sessa’s portrayal is how easily Tony gets distracted and loses focus. His mind always seems to be moving somewhere else. But once he finds himself in a kitchen, some of that energy finally has somewhere to go. Cooking gives him something that can hold his attention and, eventually, something worth taking seriously.

Emilia Jones plays Nancy, Tony’s love interest, and their relationship gives us another look at the man Tony is becoming outside of the kitchen. She sees his potential, but she also has to deal with the less appealing parts of his personality.

Leo Woodall also gives a nice performance as Sal, a fellow restaurant worker who is a drug user, risk-taker, and free spirit. Sal represents some of the temptation surrounding Tony as he tries to figure out exactly what kind of life he wants.

Antonio Banderas Is the Heart of TONY

For me, however, Antonio Banderas as Chef is the standout. Chef’s love for food is obvious, but what makes the character memorable is his compassion for people. His faith is important to him—he’ll quickly shush someone for using the Lord’s name in vain—but he doesn’t just talk about his beliefs. He lives by them.

He opens his kitchen to people who are literally coming in off the street. The people working there are far from perfect, but they’re given a job, a place to cook, and, most importantly, a found family.

Chef is the person holding everyone together. He’s a father figure, but he isn’t interested in giving long speeches about life. He teaches through food, discipline, and the way he treats people. For Tony, that becomes important because he’s learning that being a chef isn’t only about knowing how to cook. It’s about respecting the food, the kitchen, and the people standing beside you. That relationship between Tony and Chef is also when TONY really starts cooking—pun intended.

The Kitchen Becomes Its Own Character

The costume and set design help transport us into this earlier period of Bourdain’s life. The kitchens aren’t glamorous. They’re busy, crowded, and sometimes chaotic, which makes you understand why someone with Tony’s personality could become addicted to that environment.

The costumes and hairstyles also help sell the 1970s setting. From the khakis and tucked-in shirts to the sleek looks and hairstyles of the period, the characters actually look like they belong in that era. Nothing feels overly designed just to remind you that you’re watching a period piece. Instead, those details blend into the world around Tony and make his early years feel lived-in.

The film also does a great job of slowly exposing us to the world of cooking and showing exactly why Tony becomes so interested in it. Instead of immediately throwing him into the life of a chef, the movie lets that attraction build. We start noticing the kitchen the way Tony does.

The camera gets up close with the food and the process behind making it. We see fresh vegetables being chopped, food sliding into hot ovens, fish being carefully filleted, and oysters being cracked open. Even something as simple as Tony looking through a cookbook becomes part of that discovery. The kitchen starts to feel less like a workplace and more like this whole new world opening up to him.

Those details make the restaurant appealing without making it look easy. It’s loud, hectic, and full of personalities, but there’s also an art to what everyone is doing. You understand why Tony is drawn to it. He’s watching people take raw ingredients and turn them into something that brings people together. The more he sees, tastes, and learns, the more you can feel cooking becoming something he doesn’t just enjoy, but something he wants to understand.

Food Is More Than What’s on the Plate

More importantly, the movie understands something Bourdain would eventually spend much of his career showing audiences: food is rarely just about food.

It’s about who cooked it. Where it came from. Who is sitting across from you. And what happens when people who may have very little in common sit down and break bread together. That’s what I think TONY gets right.

At its best, the film feels like a love letter to Bourdain, but also to the cooks, chefs, dishwashers, and restaurant workers who make up the world that helped shape him.

I actually enjoyed the film even more the second time I watched it. The beginning takes a little while to find its rhythm, but once Tony enters the kitchen, the movie becomes much more interesting. Watching him learn how to cook, develop his relationship with Chef, and confront some uncomfortable questions about the person he wants to become gives the story its emotional moments.

TONY can be funny, emotional, and, at times, a test of morality. But underneath all of that is a story about a young man discovering the thing that will eventually change his life.

I give TONY 3.5 out of 5. It’s worth catching at a matinee—and preferably pairing it with a good brunch afterward, where you can talk about the film, the food, and the great food connoisseur Anthony Bourdain.