Anthony Bourdain was such a beloved chef and TV personality before he died by suicide in 2018. He shared his love of food in esteemed high-end restaurants through his books and on travel series. Before all of that, though, he worked at a seafood restaurant in Massachusetts, and that is the story the upcoming A24 flick Tony tells. Reviews are out ahead of Tony’s release on the 2026 movie calendar, and critics are praising the movie for its brutal portrayal of the cocky young chef.
Dominic Sessa seems to be the perfect casting choice to play Anthony Bourdain as the 19-year-old cook learning from Antonio Banderas’ “Chef.” William Bibbiani of The Wrap gives props to Matt Johnson for allowing Anthony Bourdain to be portrayed as the “asshole” that he was as a young chef, calling Tony an “appropriately judgmental origin story.” It’s a glimpse at the genius as a work in progress, and the director is successful in making us care what happens to him. The critic writes:
‘Tony’ never makes young Bourdain entirely likable. Even when he does the right thing, he tries to do it for the wrong reasons. This isn’t a superhero origin story where he changes and becomes a do-gooder at the end. This is an origin story about Bourdain’s inciting incident, the exact moment in his life where he realized he needed to change. In Matt Johnson’s hands, that’s epic enough for a whole film.
David Rooney of THR says the lead actor finds the ideal balance between portraying the budding chef as both cocky and lost. His review of Tony reads:
A slender slice of a famous life, the movie feels a little wispy in its mix of scrappy and sweet, rough-edged and yet bathed in the balming glow of nostalgia. But it has an idiosyncratic charm that fits the title character, without ever sanding down the abrasive side of a chronic liar or masking his insecurities. Making good on his promise in The Holdovers, Dominic Sessa is excellent in the role, nailing the contradictory aspects of a slippery character while mapping his coming-of-age arc with empathy and honesty.
Siddhant Adlakha of IGN rates Tony an “Amazing” 9 out of 10, saying it’s brilliant and unconventional. Dominic Sessa transforms into the young future chef in a performance that Adlakha says results in “a biopic laser-focused on the follies of youth and hyper-charged with all its vigor”:
A zesty, energetic biopic about a teenage Anthony Bourdain, Matt Johnson’s second film this year is an act of controlled chaos, tapping into the nostalgia of naïve youth while examining how creativity is born. Led by an incredible ensemble, its imperfect answers make for one of the finest and thorniest coming-of-age films in recent years. It’s a blast.
Bill Bria of SlashFilm gives it 7 out of 10, writing that Matt Johnson’s “warts and all” approach to the film may not stray too far from the formula, but its honesty makes it a "recognizable yet tasty” offering. Bria explains:
Most biopics are not-so-secretly odes to their subject's greatness, and that subtext has disturbingly become text in the wake of Bohemian Rhapsody and this year's Michael. Tony may not take the whole of Anthony Bourdain's life into context, but it doesn't seek to elevate him to godlike status, either. Instead, the Tony of the film is an Everyman, someone who is as charming, toxic, feeble, and ripe with potential for redemption and/or greatness as you or I. In that way, Tony really cooks.
Owen Gleiberman of Variety says that whether or not Tony becomes a smash hit this summer, the biopic proves that Dominic Sessa has the goods as a bona fide movie star. As for the movie itself, the critic says it truly captures who Anthony Bourdain was, writing:
To me, if an Anthony Bourdain biopic can’t clear the bar called ‘Bourdain would have liked it,’ it’s probably not a good movie.It’s true to what happened to Bourdain in 1975, when he was a restless 19-year-old college student spending the summer in Provincetown. The movie is structured as a romance, and some of it is fictionalized, but it’s true to the person he was and was becoming: a charmer, a troublemaker, a middle-class Jersey refugee with some serious demons, an aspiring writer with an extraordinary gift of gab, a sweet kid, a hustler, and an asshole.
The critics seem to agree that Tony is worth the price of admission, largely because the upcoming biopic doesn't shy away from portraying a teenage Anthony Bourdain as a jerk. The A24 film currently holds an impressive 97% Rotten Tomatoes score, so if you've got your eye on this one, be sure to head to theaters when it comes out Friday, August 7.
