In 2020 the Covid pandemic destroyed many businesses and livelihoods, but none were hit as hard as the hospitality industry. With forced closures due to local restrictions, many restaurants had no choice but to lay off staff and lock their doors. In his documentary “Sorry, We’re Closed,” director Peter Ferriero explores the challenges faced by independent restaurateurs and the personal trauma experienced by celebrated chefs during the most difficult time of their careers and lives.
Filmed in the summer of 2020 during the height of the pandemic, Chef Elizabeth Falkner sets off across the country to chat with her colleagues (including Dominique Crenn, Marc Murphy, Alice Waters, Maneet Chauhan, and Perry Cheung) to find out how they are coping with the changing landscape. In many of the scenes, the subjects are wearing masks or socially distancing outside, which serves up an unpleasant reminder of how many unknowns were happening at the time. It’s part of the reason the film feels so dated, as so many Covid stories (thankfully) are. It would’ve been nice to see this documentary in 2020 rather than nearly four years later, but there’s still a lot of interesting topics covered.
The most compelling stories are from chefs who speak with a candid sincerity, whether it’s Chris Cosentino opening up about his mental health struggles or Nancy Silverton revealing the pain of boarding up her restaurant. Falkner is able to draw out the heart and soul of these chefs, owners, and suppliers in casual conversations that convey the agony of watching your personal dream disappear. She speaks to both the business and the creative side of running a restaurant, including the innovative ways that many implemented just to stay afloat (like grocery pop-ups and gourmet take out boxes).
This is a documentary made by foodies for foodies, so be prepared for a lot of name dropping of famous chefs and cult restaurants that will mean very little to the non-gastronome crowd. That doesn’t mean that mainstream audiences will find the content inaccessible, but at least a general interest in food and the industry would be helpful.
In order to stretch the film’s run time, Ferriero goes off on a tangent and tackles the massive issue of the BLM protests in relation to the restaurant industry. The protests were absolutely an important time of unrest in America and are something that should be explored as much as possible, but there’s so much material here that it probably should’ve been a separate movie. There’s a story to tell there, but it doesn’t flow with the rest of the documentary’s content.
If it sounds like this is a weighty movie, it is. But “Sorry, We’re Closed” isn’t all depressing. The film ends with an upbeat look at how the pandemic changed the industry for the better, a bright spark in a dark time in modern history. It will also make you want to head down to your local neighborhood restaurant in a show of support, which is what all of us have to do to if we want to keep these eateries in business.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 