TONY | FOMO Open-Air Cinema Tbilisi

TONY

Matt Johnson | 2026 | USA | 1h46m | Presented in the original English audio with English subtitles

Before Anthony Bourdain became Anthony Bourdain, he was a broke 19-year-old trying to convince everyone, including himself, that he was destined to be a great writer.

TONY follows him to Provincetown chasing a girl in the summer of 1975, where he arrives completely broke. He ends up washing dishes at The Flagship, a seafood restaurant where the kitchen staff drink hard, abuse drugs, bicker constantly and somehow still manage to get the dinner service out on time. It's the first time Bourdain encounters the aggressive culture of professional kitchens that he would later describe so vividly in KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL.

Dominic Sessa plays him, and he's an inspired choice. Sessa was excellent in THE HOLDOVERS, and here he portrays the titular character as funny, smart, arrogant, insecure and often completely full of shit. Tony lies because it makes him feel more interesting. He talks too much because silence leaves him alone with himself. You can already see the voice that would eventually make him famous, but it's still attached to a teenager who has no idea yet what to do with it.

Antonio Banderas plays the chef who gives him his first job. He's calm where Bourdain is chaotic, disciplined where Bourdain is impulsive, and becomes the first person to show him that restaurant work can be more than something you do just for a paycheck. Bourdain thinks he's there temporarily. We the audience know he's stumbled into a situation that will determine the next thirty years of his life.

TONY is technically a biopic, but director Matt Johnson wisely avoids trying to explain an entire life. There is no childhood montage, no television career, no attempt to recreate every famous moment. It concentrates on one summer and asks a much simpler question: when did this person first become interested in the thing that would eventually consume him? That gives TONY a strange advantage over most biopics. We already know exactly how Bourdain remembered this period because he wrote about it himself, in considerable detail, decades later.

There is something very appealing about watching the beginning of a life rather than the highlights of one. We know where Bourdain eventually ends up. TONY is interested in the summer when he had absolutely no idea.

Tony is for fans of AMERICAN INDEPENDENT CINEMA · BEAUTIFUL LOSERS · CINEMA OF OBSESSION

SCHEDULE

20:00 Arrive early to make the most of the evening. Find your seat, enjoy a drink from the FOMO Bar on the terrace, and watch the sunset over Old Tbilisi while we play music and get the cinema ready for the night.

20:30 Feature film presentation

10% OFF FOOD, PLUS GROUP DEALS

Dinner before a film at FOMO is now sorted! We’ve arranged special offers with our two favourite places to eat in Bazari Orbeliani, both right next door to FOMO Secret Cinema on L2:

• 10% off at La Focacceria

• 20% off at Potato Factory

• Potato Factory 2+1: buy two and get one free

• Potato Factory 3+2: buy three and get two free

Simply show your Fienta ticket when ordering. You’re welcome to eat in the Sherekilebi Bar at FOMO Secret Cinema or upstairs at FOMO Open-Air Cinema. Tell them where you’ll be sitting and they’ll bring your food to you.

FOOD AND DRINK POLICY: SHEREKILEBI Bar in FOMO Secret Cinema opens 1 hour before the first screening of the day and closes at 01:30, serving a wide selection of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshments including coffee and tea, as well as fresh hot popcorn! Outside food is allowed in the bar but not in the cinema. No alcohol or drinks from outside are allowed. All guests are invited to arrive early and stay late!

REFUND & CREDIT POLICY: If FOMO cancels a screening, all ticket holders will receive a full refund. If your plans change and you can no longer attend, we’ll issue you a credit for the value of your ticket, which can be used for any FOMO film screening within the following 30 days.

TICKETS are also available at SHEREKILIBER Bar on arrival unless sold out.

ABOUT FOMO OPEN-AIR CINEMA

We opened FOMO Open-Air Cinema in the summer of 2025 with one simple idea: to create the kind of summer cinema we'd always hoped to find in Tbilisi. As Australian film lovers, some of our favourite memories were evenings spent watching films outdoors after sunset, with a cold drink in hand and a great film on the big screen. We wanted to bring that experience here.

Whether you're joining us with friends, on a date, or flying solo, we hope FOMO becomes part of your summer.

Thank you for supporting local independent cinemas like ours and the Tbilisi film community. We look forward to welcoming you throughout the summer on the rooftop, and year-round downstairs at FOMO Secret Cinema.

OPEN-AIR CINEMA REFUND POLICY

As this is an outdoor event, screenings may occasionally be affected by weather. In the event of rain we will move the screening downstairs to the indoor FOMO Secret Cinema. Refunds are only issued in the event we cancel the screening altogether.

WHAT TO WEAR

Tbilisi weather likes to keep us on our toes. Even after a hot day, it can cool down quickly once the sun sets and the rooftop breeze can be surprisingly fresh. We recommend dressing warm and bringing a jacket or jumper just in case.