Amuse-Bouche
Based on the award-winning short film Amuse-Bouche, winner of That Film Festival.
In a cozy but chaotic seaside restaurant called The Amuse-Bouche, talented yet volatile head chef Arlo navigates the pressures of culinary perfection, personal demons, and crumbling relationships as the festive season approaches. His partner Lucy, the restaurant’s devoted head waitress, starts to question the trajectory of her life and relationship. Meanwhile, Rhys, the young sous-chef, struggles to balance the demanding kitchen with a chaotic home life caring for his younger siblings and alcoholic mother.
As the restaurant prepares for Christmas Eve, tension simmers beneath the surface. Unbeknownst to the staff, the owner, Frankie, is secretly preparing to sell the restaurant, but the deal hinges on one condition: Arlo must go.
Through a day-in-the-life lens, the film peels back the layers of ambition, burnout, and quiet heartbreak. With moments of levity, tenderness, and confrontation, Amuse-Bouche serves a poignant slice of working-class life, asking whether the pursuit of passion is worth the personal cost—and what happens when the kitchen is the only place that feels like home.
