“TONY” Movie Review — One of the Best Movies of 2026
I’m not going to pretend I know a whole lot about famous cook and author Anthony Bourdain, but what I can say from the opinions of many people is that he was an incredibly influential and fascinating figure in the culinary industry. Apart from his 25-year-long expertise in the kitchen working at nearly a dozen prestigious professional restaurants, he’s been known for famously hosting many food/travel documentaries like “No Reservations” and “Parts Unknown,” and has written many best-selling books. Some of them are fictional crime/mystery novels, but others were memoirs that focused on his life experiences and hardships, the dedication of becoming a chef, and his travels and exposure to foreign cuisines across the globe.
Even with said limited knowledge, the release of “Tony” was something I was extremely looking forward to given the coming-of-age premise of a young Anthony Bourdain’s novelist endeavors and early years of becoming a chef loosely shared from the first two chapters of his lionized memoir, “Kitchen Confidential”. But as we’ve from the recent failures (and successes) of recent biographical period pieces, it’s one thing to make a biopic about a significant figure, it’s another to make it good and have your central icon be a fascinating, complicated character in his/her own right rather than a cultural idol for the side characters and extras to gawk at.
Having seen the movie twice, there’s no doubt in my mind that “Tony” is one of the best movies of 2026. Even if the movie follows a certain biographical formula, “Tony” is more than just a feel-good series of anecdotes and over-wrought biopic cliches. Director and writer Matt Johnson has served up a deeply personal, poignant character study and a sincere love-letter to one of the most celebrated chefs in recent memory. An enriching, delightful tale of one’s rite of passage of becoming the most mature, accountable and perfect version of yourself through one unforgettable summer.
Set in 1975, our story follows the tenacious, erudite Anthony Bourdain —or “Tony” as he’d refer to himself—as a Vassar College student with hopes of winning a writing fellowship and scoring with his high school crush and friend, Nancy Putkoski. Upon discovering that he didn’t get accepted into the fellowship leaving him frustrated, he impulsively travels to Cape Cod, where Nancy told Tony she’ll be spending the summer at, to chase her and try to win her heart. The bad news? She’s been taken. Worse news? He gets robbed after drinking his troubles away at a local seafood restaurant. Having no money to return home, he asks the head owner and chef for a place to stay and an opportunity to earn money. From that point on, he sets himself on a life-altering journey of adulthood he’ll never regret.
The film depicts Bourdain as an impulsive, aimless character searching for a purpose. He’s from a family who are supportive, but he can tell that they expect so much more from him. He repeatedly brings up his desire to be a writer and he’s currently working on a book, but he doesn’t believe in himself that he can put forth the effort. This leads to him having to constantly validate himself and lie to others (his family, his co-workers like the mischievous Sal [played by the terrific Leo Woodall], even Nancy) to get the opportunities coming his way when it only makes the hole he digs even deeper.
Once the lies mount and inevitably crash down on him, from all the experiences and lessons he’s learned, the film manages to have him find redemption and achieve what he’s always wanted; to become the man he would eventually be remembered for. Are there a couple of events in the film that are dramatized and fictionalized? Sure. Despite that, it serves an extremely practical function to strengthen the character development for Anthony himself and those around him, reinforcing the themes of hidden potential, second chances and self-grace.
Magnanimous is the word to describe Dominic Sessa’s performance of Bourdain. He was nothing short of remarkable in his role in Alexander Payne’s 2023 masterpiece, “The Holdovers”, but his acting here is astounding; it’s transformative with a capital T. Sessa doesn’t do an impression of Bourdain, he becomes Bourdain. Right from the opening scene of him offering a resume to the Vassar writing fellowship and eloquently explaining his pitch for his story, you believe him. His wise-cracking stubbornness, his smart-ass demeanor and his ability to express vulnerability, it’s all so top-notch.
Equally stealing the show is Bourdain’s nameless kitchen mentor, played by Antonio Banderas, who approaches the character as a calm, level-headed man with tons of experience on his shoulders. Rather than the usual wise-mentor trope, he’s written with much more depth. Someone who may have worked in many exquisite kitchens and learned under the CIA (Culinary Institute of America), but at the core is just a regular person struggling on his own trying to maintain a local seafood restaurant, and serves as a reflection of Bourdain could be or what he eventually becomes. The master-student chemistry that Sessa and Banderas have together is infectious, and their banter and storytelling together feels like listening to the cooking seminar of the ages.
Emilia Jones is just as mesmerizing as Nancy. As the beautiful girl-next-door in Bourdain’s life, her performance is snappy, quick-witted, her acerbic chemistry with Secca will leave you glued to the screen, and she’s given more to work with in the script than just being the average love-interest.
The praise goes beyond just the performances. The production captures the 1970s era in Massachusetts with ease. The needle drops and costume design are genuine to the time-period, and the aesthetic and buildings of Provincetown feel like you've stepped into a bygone era. It’s also aided by wondrous, naturalistic cinematography and some of the most salivating cooking sequences that will have fleeting to a restaurant immediately after the credits roll.
“TONY” is a dish so nice, you order it twice. It is a near five-star meal that you consume and eat every last morsel on the plate until there is not a crumb or stain left in sight. It's an ode to an influential chef, and a celebration of mentorship, masculinity and the immature rising to the occasion and embracing the opportunities, challenges and fortunes that come their way. It isn’t often I would find a movie that would impact me on a personal level, but this one did alongside many movies in my lifetime. And having tried it for a second time, I wouldn’t mind going in for a third.
RATING: 5/5
