Umami (2025)

Umami (2025). 2h

“This is an immersive, one-take film where the camera follows the characters with no cuts. Itu0026#39;s also in Turkish so there are subtitles. But donu0026#39;t let that stop you – itu0026#39;s really a fascinating film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eStarts off with a baseline stress level that seems a little higher than normal life due to it being almost time for the dinner crowd at an trendy open-kitchen restaurant. By the end of the film the tension has been turned up to 11, as the saying goes, leading to an abrupt and startling final shot. Itu0026#39;s one of those OMG endings.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere were only a few minutes that didnu0026#39;t seem to ring true, mainly having to do with this being a really busy eatery, but for a while no one seems to be cooking and all the stoves seem abandoned. There were also a few times when the place was very busy, yet employees took unnatural amounts to time to deal with things that came up, like a staff member pulling out a first aid kit in full sight of the diners to dress a bloody cut on her finger, and it seems to take her a good 5 minutes just to do this.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo those little details kind of took me out of the story. I donu0026#39;t know that this is a bad thing though because it means the film did a very good job at making me feel immersed in everything that was going on. So much so, that when they did happen, I was literally saying out loud, u0026quot;Come on, come on, keep it going, people are waiting for their food!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe camera work was excellent. I felt the stress, the heat, the sweat, all the tension, the discomfort of having to observe customers behaving badly, the million and one things going on all at the same time. It drew me in slowly at first, but by the end I was all in.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDue the popularity of The Bear, Iu0026#39;m sure many watchers will draw similarities. As a fan of that tv show, I couldnu0026#39;t help but make a list of them in my head every time Iu0026#39;d notice them – like a bingo card.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYou have a man and a woman partnering up to start this restaurant, investors who want their returns, staff on drugs, chef with addiction and parental drama and a sister, lots of tattoos, health department inspectors, people saying u0026quot;Yes Chef!u0026quot; in English oddly enough, and so on, you get the idea.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy rating is 7, but Iu0026#39;d give it a 7.5 if that were an option. I really enjoyed it!”