Anthony Bourdain has inspired countless documentaries, memoirs and television tributes, but Tony, directed by Matt Johnson, takes an unexpectedly restrained approach. Rather than attempting to capture the celebrated chef, bestselling author and global television icon at the height of his fame, the film rewinds to the summer of 1975, when a restless 19-year-old Bourdain was still searching for purpose. Starring Dominic Sessa in the title role alongside Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones and Leo Woodall, the coming-of-age drama arrives in theatres on August 7 with strong reviews from critics. The consensus is clear: Tony succeeds precisely because it refuses to become a conventional biopic. Instead of chronicling an entire life, it focuses on the formative experiences that shaped one.
Set in Provincetown, Massachusetts, the story follows young Tony as he takes a summer job in a bustling seafood restaurant before beginning culinary school. Directionless but curious, he quickly discovers that the intensity, camaraderie and creativity of a professional kitchen offer something he has never truly found elsewhere. Along the way, he forms a meaningful bond with a veteran chef, experiences first love, builds friendships that challenge his worldview and gradually begins to understand that cooking can become far more than a job. Rather than presenting the audience with the Anthony Bourdain they already know, the film asks them to spend time with the uncertain young man who has yet to realise his own potential.
Critics Love That Tony Refuses to Be a Conventional Biopic
The first point almost every review makes is that Tony deliberately avoids the familiar rise-and-fall formula that defines so many biographical dramas. Instead of racing through decades of Anthony Bourdain’s life, Matt Johnson isolates one transformative summer and trusts the audience to recognise its significance without constant reminders of the future that awaits him.
Owen Gleiberman of Variety believes this is exactly why the film works. Rather than constructing a checklist of famous moments, Johnson creates what Gleiberman describes as an intimate portrait of a young man still figuring himself out. His ultimate compliment is perhaps the simplest one imaginable: “Bourdain would have liked it.” Coming from a critic who has often questioned conventional biopics, it serves as a powerful endorsement of the film’s philosophy.
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter reaches a similar conclusion, describing Tony as “a slender slice of a famous life” that possesses an “idiosyncratic charm” reflective of its subject. Rooney acknowledges that the film occasionally feels slight, but argues that its warmth and modesty suit a story about a young man who has not yet become the cultural icon audiences remember.
William Bibbiani of TheWrap perhaps captures the film’s central idea best, writing that audiences are invited to watch “the genius as a work in progress.” Rather than presenting Anthony Bourdain as a finished legend, Tony embraces uncertainty, portraying him as someone still stumbling towards the identity that would eventually define him.
David Ehrlich of IndieWire also praises Johnson’s refusal to build a conventional origin story. Instead of manufacturing dramatic revelations or mythologising Bourdain’s early life, the film finds meaning in everyday encounters, small conversations and gradual personal growth. Critics repeatedly argue that this understated approach allows Tony to feel less like a biography and more like an authentic coming-of-age story.
If there is one aspect of the film critics praise without reservation, it is Dominic Sessa’s performance. Across virtually every review, his portrayal of young Anthony Bourdain is described as remarkably natural, avoiding the trap that often undermines biographical performances: imitation.
Rooney notes that Sessa never attempts to mimic Bourdain’s instantly recognisable voice or mannerisms. Instead, he captures the confidence, insecurity, arrogance and curiosity of someone still discovering who he wants to become. That restraint allows audiences to see Tony as a fully realised young man rather than a collection of familiar traits borrowed from the public figure.
Gleiberman similarly argues that Sessa wisely refuses to perform an impression. Instead, he builds a believable character whose restless intelligence and quiet hunger gradually evolve into the qualities audiences associate with Bourdain years later. The result is a performance that feels lived-in rather than calculated.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian describes Sessa as enormously likeable, suggesting his easy screen presence keeps the film engaging even when larger questions about Bourdain’s future inevitably linger in the audience’s mind. Tim Grierson of Screen Daily calls him quietly magnetic, observing that Sessa communicates Tony’s artistic awakening through subtle shifts in confidence rather than dramatic speeches.
Several critics also point to Sessa’s chemistry with the supporting cast as one of the film’s greatest strengths. Whether exchanging jokes in the kitchen, awkwardly navigating young romance or quietly observing the experienced chefs around him, he consistently makes Tony feel like someone still absorbing the world rather than trying to dominate it. It is precisely that openness, critics argue, that makes the performance so affecting.
While Dominic Sessa carries the story, Antonio Banderas provides its emotional foundation. Playing the seasoned chef who gradually becomes Tony’s mentor, Banderas delivers one of the year’s warmest supporting performances, offering guidance without ever slipping into cliché.
The Hollywood Reporter praises the tenderness of the relationship, describing Banderas as the steady emotional anchor that prevents the film from drifting into nostalgia. Rather than functioning as a stereotypical mentor who exists solely to deliver life lessons, his character becomes a surrogate father figure whose influence is felt through quiet conversations and everyday interactions inside the restaurant.
Screen Daily reaches a similar conclusion, arguing that Banderas grounds the film with understated compassion while giving Sessa the perfect scene partner. Their relationship develops naturally through shared work rather than dramatic speeches, making the emotional bond between them feel earned.
Peter Bradshaw also highlights Banderas’ warmth, noting that the actor brings generosity and humanity to every scene he shares with Sessa. Even critics who felt the film remained emotionally slight consistently singled out Banderas as one of its most dependable strengths.
Together, Sessa and Banderas create the film’s beating heart. Their mentor-student relationship gives Tony its emotional weight, reinforcing the idea that Anthony Bourdain’s life was shaped as much by the people who believed in him as by his own extraordinary talent.
One of the more interesting observations shared across reviews is that Tony is not really a film about food. Cooking may occupy most of its running time, but the kitchen functions less as a culinary showcase than as a place where Anthony Bourdain begins discovering discipline, purpose and identity. Rather than celebrating recipes or technical brilliance, Matt Johnson uses the restaurant as the setting where a directionless teenager gradually learns who he wants to become.
Monica Castillo of The A.V. Club argues that, beyond fulfilling the basic expectations of a biopic, Tony reminds audiences how unexpected encounters can permanently alter the course of a person’s life. Dana Stevens of Slate takes the idea even further, suggesting the film would still work even if Anthony Bourdain were fictional. In her view, the story succeeds because it captures one young man’s transformative summer, making the famous name attached to it almost secondary.
Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence similarly observes that while the film does not dramatically reshape Bourdain by its conclusion, it beautifully highlights the values that would later define him: the pleasure of creation, the joy of sharing food and the belief that meaningful experiences often emerge from ordinary places. Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent describes the film as a deeply likeable meditation on learning to embrace the life unfolding directly in front of you instead of endlessly chasing imagined futures.
Even Rendy Reviews, one of the more enthusiastic voices, praises Johnson for resisting the temptation to manufacture artificial drama. Instead, the review celebrates the film’s patient confidence, allowing small conversations, long shifts in the kitchen and everyday moments of personal growth to accumulate into something quietly affecting.
The principal debate surrounding Tony is not whether it succeeds, but whether its deliberately modest ambitions ultimately limit its emotional impact.
David Rooney describes the film as “slender” and occasionally “wispy”, suggesting its nostalgic tone sometimes leaves the drama feeling lighter than the subject deserves. Peter Bradshaw makes a similar point, arguing that while the film is consistently engaging, its gentle coming-of-age trajectory is inevitably coloured by what audiences already know about Anthony Bourdain’s later struggles and tragic death. That knowledge creates an emotional shadow the film acknowledges but never fully confronts.
Empire awards the film three out of five stars, calling it a charming hangout movie whose ambitions never quite match the complexity of its subject. Kristen Lopez of The Film Maven is more critical, arguing that while abandoning the traditional biopic formula is admirable, the film occasionally wanders with the same uncertainty as its protagonist, leaving parts of the narrative feeling aimless.
David Ehrlich of IndieWire, however, sees that looseness as entirely appropriate. He argues that Tony struggles to deliver a conventional ending precisely because it isn’t interested in endings at all. Instead, its greatest pleasure lies in watching the first tentative steps toward the extraordinary life audiences already know awaits its central character. TheWrap reaches a similar conclusion, suggesting the film earns its affection because it never pretends Anthony Bourdain arrived fully formed. Instead, viewers are invited to watch a remarkable life still taking shape.
Perhaps the film’s boldest creative decision is where it chooses to end.
There is no Kitchen Confidential. No Parts Unknown. No celebrity chef. No addiction, global fame or heartbreaking final chapter. Instead, Tony concludes with possibility. It leaves Anthony Bourdain standing at the threshold of the life audiences already know, choosing culinary school rather than celebrating everything that came afterwards.
For some critics, that restraint makes the story emotionally richer because it resists turning Bourdain into mythology. Others wished the film had reached deeper into the contradictions that would later define him. Yet even those reservations rarely overshadow the admiration for Johnson’s confidence in telling a smaller, more intimate story.
Tony is less interested in explaining Anthony Bourdain than understanding the young man who existed before the world knew his name. Critics largely agree that Matt Johnson’s restrained direction, Dominic Sessa’s superb breakthrough performance and Antonio Banderas’ quietly moving mentorship combine to create one of the year’s most distinctive biographical dramas. While some reviewers believe the film remains too slight for a figure as complex as Bourdain, most conclude that its refusal to chase convention is precisely what makes it memorable. It is a coming-of-age story first, a biopic second—and, according to the critical consensus, that is exactly why it works.
Wath Tony Trailer:
Film Details: Tony
Director: Matt Johnson
Writer: Lou Howe, Todd Bartels
Cast: Dominic Sessa, Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones, Leo Woodall
Genre: Biography, Drama
Rating: R
Running Time: 106 minutes
Production Companies: Star Thrower Entertainment, Zapruder Films
Release Date: 7 August 2026
Country: United States
Language: English
Read More Review Roundups on POF
