Chef Flynn

In an era when talented children and teens gain momentary notice on reality cooking shows, it's something else entirely to encounter a young prodigy who is on the path to becoming a chef with all that title entails. Flynn McGarry, now 20 years old, started out at age 11 with a pop-up restaurant, Eureka, in his family's Los Angeles home. By the end of Chef Flynn, he is in New York City preparing to open his first permanent venue there. His growth as a chef includes stints staging at renowned places and an increasing adventurousness in his cooking. What makes the film especially interesting, though, is the underlying family dynamic. McGarry's mother, Meg, is a filmmaker, and much of the archival footage comes from her, not always with her son's cooperation. The complex yet close relationship between McGarry and his mother provides tension to a film that otherwise traces a meteoric rise.