Nu Metro’s FOMO – First On Movie Openings – series gives audiences in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town an early seat at A24’s acclaimed coming-of-age drama on 8 October.
JOHANNESBURG — Anthony Bourdain was Tony, long before the bestselling books, the television shows and a passport crowded with stamps.
Anthony Bourdain was a 19-year-old college student with more nerve than direction. Tony, the new film from director Matt Johnson, goes back to the summer of 1975, when a young Bourdain followed a girl to Provincetown, Massachusetts, took a job washing dishes in a seafood restaurant and found – in the heat, noise and chaos of a professional kitchen – the life he would spend the rest of his years chasing.
Anthony Bourdain as Tony is a 2026 American biographical coming-of-age comedy drama film.
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Tony – Screenings for South Africa Ahead
Anthony Bourdain’s story is coming to South Africa. Film lovers won’t have to wait for the official release to see it. On Thursday, 8 October at 19:30, Nu Metro will host FOMO screenings of Tony at Hyde Park, Menlyn, Gateway and Cavendish, ahead of the film’s local opening. Each ticket includes a VIP cinema seat, popcorn and a soda – the kind of evening best shared with a few friends and a long conversation afterwards.
Dominic Sessa, who made his name opposite Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers, plays the young Bourdain, with Antonio Banderas as the restaurant’s chef and owner who becomes an unlikely mentor. Emilia Jones (CODA), Leo Woodall, Dagmara Domińczyk, Rich Sommer and Stavros Halkias round out the cast. Johnson, the Canadian filmmaker behind BlackBerry, co-wrote the screenplay, and Jay McCarrol composed the score.
93% Score for Film
The film has been warmly received since its US release in August. It currently holds a 93% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus describes it as “a splendid tribute to mentorship” and singles out Banderas’s performance. It was also named a New York Times Critic’s Pick, while the Wall Street Journal called it “the most exhilarating experience I’ve had at the movies this year.”
For anyone who came to know Bourdain through Kitchen Confidential or Parts Unknown, the film offers a glimpse of where the appetite, the restlessness and the refusal to do anything by halves first took root. For everyone else, it stands on its own as a funny, tender story about a young man figuring out who he is, one shift at a time.
Seats for the FOMO screenings are limited. Tickets can be booked at numet.ro/tony. Ts & Cs apply; partner pricing discounts are not applicable.
Movie Overview
Plot:
At 19, a brash and insecure Bourdain lies about a writing fellowship and follows his love interest Nancy to Provincetown, Massachusetts. He lands a dishwashing job at The Flagship restaurant, plunging into a chaotic, drug-fueled kitchen culture that sparks his culinary journey.
Cast
Dominic Sessa stars as young Tony, alongside Antonio Banderas as the chef, Emilia Jones as Nancy, and Stavros Halkias as a line cook.
Release
Distributed by A24, the film premiered in the United States and Canada in August 2026.
Themes
Loosely inspired by the early chapters of Kitchen Confidential, the movie strips away the later television mythos to portray a messy, self-destructive misfit trying to find where he belongs.
At a Glance
Film: Tony (Drama, 106 min)
Date & time: Thursday, 8 October 2026 at 19:30
Venues: Nu Metro Hyde Park, Menlyn, Gateway and Cavendish
Ticket includes: VIP cinema ticket, popcorn and soda
Bookings: numet.ro/tony
