While we ponder how exactly the fiasco surrounding Todd Haynes’ would-be next film is going down in the household of Joaquin Phoenix and Carol star Rooney Mara, the latter actor’s latest role is now opening next month. Alonso Ruizpalacios’ La Cocina, starring Mara and Raúl Briones, premiered at Berlinale earlier this year, followed by Tribeca, and will screen at the London Film Festival in October. Ahead of an October 25 theatrical release beginning at NYC’s Angelika, the first trailer has arrived.
Here’s the synopsis: “La Cocina captures the frenetic energy of the lunch rush at The Grill, a bustling restaurant in Manhattan’s Times Square. When money goes missing from the till, suspicion falls on Pedro (Briones), an undocumented cook who dreams of a better life and is in love with Julia (Mara), an American waitress who cannot commit to a relationship. Rashid, the restaurant owner, has promised to help Pedro obtain legal status, but a shocking revelation about Julia compels Pedro to spiral into an act that threatens to shut down one of the city’s busiest kitchens once and for all. The film is a comic and tragic tribute to the invisible people who keep our restaurants running and our stomachs full, all while chasing an elusive version of the American dream.”
Rory O’Connor said in his Berlinale review, “Egos are charred and tempers seared in La Cocina, a kitchen nightmare set in the engine rooms of a vast Times Square eatery where the staff have more pressing things to worry about than rising temperatures.”
See the trailer below.
