Stephen Graham’s acclaimed drama Boiling Point is now streaming on Netflix
Stephen Graham’s rise to international prominence reached another level with Netflix’s Adolescence, but fans of the actor looking for another intense performance should look back to one of his most acclaimed films.
Released in 2021, Boiling Point puts Graham at the centre of a pressure-cooker drama set inside a restaurant on its busiest night of the year. The film was directed by Philip Barantini, who would later direct all four episodes of Adolescence, creating an especially strong connection between the two projects.
The film also became the starting point for a BBC television series, which continued the story six months after the events of the movie.
Stephen Graham’s success with Adolescence
Liverpool-born Graham became one of the most talked-about British actors in 2025 after starring in Adolescence, Netflix’s four-part drama about a teenage boy accused of murdering a female classmate.
Graham plays Eddie Miller, the boy’s father, as the family attempts to deal with the consequences of the accusation. Each episode was filmed as one continuous take, placing the performances and choreography under extraordinary pressure.
The series became a major awards success. Graham won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie in 2025, followed by the Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in 2026. He also won the BAFTA TV Award for Leading Actor in 2026.
Those accolades added another major chapter to a career that has already included This Is England, Line of Duty and Peaky Blinders.
Since Adolescence, Graham has also appeared in the horror film Good Boy, the Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me from Nowhere and Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, in which he played Hayden Stagg for the final time.
His upcoming projects include Bunker, a thriller from The Father director Florian Zeller, as well as the sequel to Apple TV+’s Greyhound, in which he will appear alongside Tom Hanks.
Boiling Point puts Graham under relentless pressure
For anyone who discovered Graham through Adolescence, Boiling Point offers a chance to see him in another demanding one-shot performance.
Graham plays Andy Jones, the head chef of a busy London restaurant. As the kitchen prepares for its busiest night of the year, Andy tries to keep his staff, customers and restaurant under control while personal problems begin to affect his ability to cope.
The pressure steadily builds as professional and personal crises collide. Rotten Tomatoes currently lists the film at 99% from 79 critics, with its critics’ consensus praising the way its formal approach intensifies the story.
The film runs for 1 hour and 32 minutes and was released in 2021.
The same director behind Adolescence
One of the most interesting reasons for Adolescence fans to watch Boiling Point is the presence of Philip Barantini.
Barantini directed the 2021 film and subsequently directed every episode of Adolescence. Both productions use the demanding technique of presenting the action as a continuous take, creating a sense that events are unfolding in real time.
Boiling Point was also developed through a mixture of scripting, improvisation and workshop work rather than relying entirely on a conventional finished script. The cast rehearsed for two weeks before filming, and the production ultimately needed only four takes before the filmmakers were satisfied with the result.
Graham previously described the approach as a chance for actors to challenge themselves through a demanding and collaborative process.
The result is a film in which there is very little room for the performers to reset or hide. Every movement, exchange and mistake has to fit into the constantly moving action.
From acclaimed film to BBC series
The film’s reception eventually led to a television continuation.
Boiling Point received four BAFTA Film Award nominations in 2022, including Outstanding British Film and Leading Actor for Stephen Graham. It was also nominated for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer and Casting.
The film went on to develop a cult following, helping pave the way for a four-part BBC sequel series.
The television drama, which premiered in 2023, picks up six months after the events of the film. Vinette Robinson returns as Carly, who is now running her own restaurant, Point North, with most of Andy’s former staff.
The continuation expands the story beyond Andy and gives Carly the central role as she attempts to establish herself while dealing with the pressures of running a professional kitchen.
Why Boiling Point should appeal to Adolescence fans
The connection between Boiling Point and Adolescence goes beyond Graham appearing in both projects.
Both productions place their characters under sustained pressure while using continuous-shot filmmaking to make that tension feel immediate. In Boiling Point, the setting is a restaurant kitchen where problems pile up throughout a single night. In Adolescence, the same filmmaking technique is used across four episodes to follow the consequences of a devastating accusation.
For viewers who were impressed by the intensity and technical ambition of Adolescence, Boiling Point provides an earlier example of the filmmaking style that would later become central to Barantini’s work on the Netflix series.
Boiling Point is now streaming on Netflix.