Directed by: Alonso Ruizpalacios
Written by: Alonso Ruizpalacios
Run Time: 2 hours 19 minutes
Between Philip Barantini’s anxiety-inducing Boiling Point (2021), Mark Mylod’s deliciously thrilling The Menu (2022), and Emmy award-winning TV series The Bear, kitchen dramas have quickly become the flavour of the month. Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacious is the latest, then, to embrace the heat of the celluloid kitchen with his new film La Cocina, his take on the 1957 stage play by Arnold Wesker.
Ruizpalacious’ film follows a diverse range of staff who work in a busy Times Square kitchen. They each go about their various shifts while an investigation is being undertaken by management in order to locate a sum of money that has gone missing from one of the cash registers – and everyone’s a suspect.
But before the main premise gets underway, La Cocina begins by focusing on a young Mexican immigrant, Estela (Anna Díaz) making her way to The Grill, the busy diner-style restaurant that the film almost entirely takes place in. She doesn’t have a job there yet, but she’s been promised that one of the chefs, Pedro (Raúl Briones) will be able to get her one. The mention of his name alone proves enough to get her in, despite her youth and lack of documents. What viewers might expect from the remainder of the film, then, is a fly-on-the-wall account of Estela’s first day in her new job, and while there are glimpses of this, it’s actually Pedro who becomes the film’s central character.
Pedro is a talented chef, but an unpredictable employee. He often gets into fights, even having pulled a knife on one of his fellow chefs, Max (Spenser Granese) the previous night. Max’s insistence that his colleagues “Speak English!” certainly alludes to some of the co-workers differences, with Raúl Briones fiery performance ensuring that Pedro’s quick temper is aptly demonstrated. This is further illustrated through the volatile dynamic between him and the kitchen’s head chef (Lee Sellars), one that would give Gordon Ramsay a run for his money.
Conversely, Briones also exposes Pedro’s softer side through his relationship with one of the restaurant servers, Julia (Rooney Mara). Their courtship is the kitchen’s worst-kept secret and ultimately has implications for management’s investigation, but it too reveals much about Pedro and his desire to make something more of his life in the US. Having now worked in the kitchen for three years, the restaurants’ owner, Rashid (Oded Fehr) assures Pedro he’ll help with obtaining his documentation, but it’s an obvious empty promise that further implies the harsh reality of his situation.
These delicate connections with his employers and co-workers offer an illuminating insight into his immigrant experience, and see him pushed to his limit trying to spin all of these unevenly stacked plates at once. But with the kitchen being made up of mostly immigrant staff La Cocina consistently mirrors Pedro’s experiences through its supporting characters too, portrayed by a capable cast who together form an impressive ensemble.
Despite the film being presented in cold, unwelcoming black-and-white, each of their colourful personalities are evident – creating a rich melting pot of cultures, representative of modern day America. Nevertheless, it’s abundantly clear that working in such dire conditions, in a truly hostile and exploitative workplace is steadily dimming their once bright lights.
So while this spread of characters is effective in conveying the film’s message, especially in its powerful closing moments, the repeated shift between perspectives and stories does make the film feel a little disjointed and hard to settle into – perhaps a deliberate tactic to display the undeniable chaos of the kitchen? Yet, with the rhythms of the narrative and the pace of the runtime constantly changing, La Cocina ends up becoming a cinematic meal consisting of one too many courses.
Nonetheless, when Ruizpalacious places audiences in the midst of the restaurants’ intense service periods, it’s here where La Cocina really starts cooking with gas. Its juxtaposition of naturalistic performances with more surreal elements accompany its astute commentary on the mistreatment of undocumented workers in the US to much success. Its numerous lulls do create abrupt pockets of tedium, but also allow for the showcasing of its characters hopes and aspirations. In turn, deftly exposing the American Dream for the nightmare it really is.
Star Rating: ★ ★ ★
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