[Tribeca 2024] LA COCINA -- Immigrant Kitchen Drama Is Another Ambitious Hit for Alonso Ruizpalacios

Review by Sean Boelman

A decade ago, Mexican filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios burst onto the scene with his indie debut Güeros. In the years since, he’s proven himself to be one of the most exciting, innovative, and creative voices in Latino cinema. His latest work, La Cocina, is no exception to his impressive filmography, benefitting from plenty of ambitious narrative and stylistic swings.

The movie takes place in the kitchen of a New York City fine dining restaurant, where cultural differences and romantic tensions come to a head after it is discovered that money has gone missing. Those who are interested in seeing a behind-the-scenes kitchen drama (a la The Bear) will certainly be satisfied by the tense melodrama of the film, but Ruizpalacios has so much more in store for viewers with this kaleidoscopic portrait of a kitchen staff.

Because the movie juggles so many different characters and storylines, it manages to maintain an incredible sense of narrative momentum despite its two-and-a-quarter-hour length. It takes quite a while for the central characters — much less the central conflict — to be introduced to the story, but the film does a great job of keeping viewers engaged through its subplots.

Over the course of La Cocina, we are introduced to a variety of characters — some likable, others detestable, but all feeling like genuine representations. In movies like this, it can be easy to fall victim to stereotypes for the purpose of making a political point. Ruizpalacios manages to avoid this, showing empathy to most of its characters — and not broadly villainizing its antagonistic forces.

Ruizpalacios’s script bites off just as much on a thematic level. The film is adapted from a well-known play by Arnold Wesker from the 1950s, and Ruizpalacios has done a very good job of transporting the setting to modern-day America. He turns the story into a commentary on the American dream and the immigrant experience, offering some incredibly fascinating commentary on the exploitation of immigrant workers. Other themes feel somewhat underdeveloped but are necessary for the narrative progression.

Rooney Mara is the biggest-name performer in the ensemble, and while her performance is solid, she is often overshadowed by others in the cast. Raúl Briones gives what may be the most impressive performance out of anyone, bringing a lot of nuance to a character that to call him complicated would be an understatement. 

The other factor that will likely have a make-or-break influence for viewers is Ruizpalacios’s visual styling. He takes quite a few ambitious swings when it comes to capturing the frenetic energy of working in a NYC kitchen and being an immigrant in the United States. There are sequences shot in slow-motion and others with rapid action and few cuts. A majority of the movie is in black-and-white, although a few sequences incorporate splashes of color. It’s a film of extreme juxtaposition, and it mostly works.

La Cocina is not a perfect movie, feeling somewhat aimless and overambitious at times. However, when Alonso Ruizpalacios is on his game, he’s incredibly on — delivering a gripping, stirring commentary on the immigrant experience in a way that is both entertaining and provocative.

La Cocina is screening at the 2024 Tribeca Festival, which runs June 5-16 in New York City.

​Rating: 4/5