Boiling Point recap: What happened in the film?

The four-parter boasts many familiar faces from the original film's cast, as well as a raft of new talent, but we're sure it won't be nearly as stressful as the one-shot style of the film (or so we keep telling ourselves).

The film, of course, premiered to critical acclaim back in 2021 and was directed by Philip Barantini and co-written by Barantini and James Cummings, both of whom return to helm the TV series.

It's worth noting that the 2021 feature film is an expansion of the 2019 short film of the same name, which is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Whether you've watched the 2021 film time and time again, have only recently tuned into it or just want to brush up on your Boiling Point knowledge ahead of the BBC series premiere, read on for everything you need to know about what happened at the end of Boiling Point the film.

Of course, this article contains full spoilers for the film so be warned ...

What happened in Boiling Point the film?

The chaotic one-shot film unfolded over the course of one particularly busy night in Jones & Sons, a Dalston restaurant helmed by Andy Jones (Graham). It's quite literally the busiest day of the year right before Christmas and, rather than strive for things to run as smoothly as possible, the team are at their wit's end and bursting apart at the seams, to put it lightly.

The start of the film sees Andy walk in late, but he is quickly informed by an inspector that his restaurant has been downgraded to a three star health rating. Why? Well, because sinks are being used for multiple food items, there's a lack of gloves in use and the fridge is below optimal temperature.

We soon learn that Andy hasn't been keeping on top of food prep, ordering or getting his staff in check, but throughout the film, we also get brief snippets into his own personal life and learn that he's separated from his wife and struggling to see his son.

Sous chef Carly (Robinson) and Freeman (Ray Panthaki) are trying their hardest to keep things afloat in the kitchen, but when restaurant manager Beth (Alice Feetham) tells everyone she's overbooked the restaurant, it only leads to more pressure building up for both the kitchen and front-of-house teams.

Throughout the jam-packed night, Beth has booked in a table of Instagram influencers, is rushing tables because of the overbooking and has a fiery exchange with Carly after asking her to go off menu to appease the influencer guests. Carly tells Beth that nobody likes her, leading Beth to seek temporary solace in the bathroom and question whether the restaurant business is really one for her.

There are a host of different problems throughout the night: including racism towards a Black waitress, language barriers in the kitchen and a dawning realisation from Emily (Hannah Walters) that her pastry chef Jamie is struggling with self-harm and his mental health.

How did Boiling Point the film end?

The drama only notches up continuously throughout the film, with Andy also being visited by his former boss Alastair (Jason Flemyng), who is now struggling in his own financial life.

We learn that Alastair gave Andy £200,000 to open Jones & Sons but because he's now in bad debt, he's pushing Andy to repay the money quickly. He then makes a weird not-quite offer to Andy and tells him that if he can't repay the money, Alastair can come in and split Andy’s 30% ownership of the restaurant with him.

As if to make things worse, Alastair isn't by himself when he turns up to the restaurant. He arrives with a food critic, only adding to the pressure of the evening.

The critic seems to like Andy's food, but Alastair is being pedantic about things, only adding fuel to Andy's anger. When he returns to the kitchen, he does so without having previously heard about a very important allergy notice.

Table 13 isn't to be served anything with nuts as the woman at the table is severely allergic, but when the salad dressing at Camille's station runs out, Andy quickly uses walnut oil to dress the salad, unaware of the allergy.

The woman in question goes into anaphylactic shock, with an ambulance being promptly called and Alistair and the critic are some of the first people to assist the couple. When Alastair takes Andy to one side, he tells Andy about how awful this looks for the restaurant and the fact that he should shift the blame onto Carly, his friend and sous chef. He tells Andy that his own PR company can help the fallout and he can come in as Andy's partner chef.

Andy calls a team meeting to figure out what's happened and it's there that Freeman has had enough of his boss, telling him that he comes into work everyday smelling of alcohol and that the allergic reaction is his fault. Carly, unable to deal with the drama of the kitchen, walks out and Andy tells her about the predicament Alistair put him in in regards to implicating Carly.

Carly, who throughout the film has been asking Andy about getting a pay rise, is clearly done with the antics of the night and leaves, feeling under-appreciated for all she's done for her friend.

Andy knows the whole affair was his fault and, alone in his office, he starts to snort cocaine and continues to drink from his water bottle - which has become painfully obvious is alcohol of some kind. He makes a call to his wife, telling her that he'll go to rehab and that he'll change.

But when Andy gets up to leave the room, he collapses and clutches his chest, clearly having a heart attack. We hear him found by some worried members of staff and while the film did end on this cliffhanger, we now know - because of the upcoming TV series - that Andy survived.

Boiling Point premieres on BBC One and iPlayer on Sunday 1st October. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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