Toast (2010), based on Nigel Slater’s memoir, presents a nostalgic yet fragmented narrative of a young boy’s coming-of-age experience amid the chaos of a dysfunctional family. While the film attempts to capture the melancholy and humor of Slater’s life, its execution often feels detached and superficial. The story, which spans several years, struggles to create an emotional connection with the audience, as the episodic structure undermines any real sense of character growth or story continuity. Though visually striking, with the design elements reminiscent of an idealized 1960s England, the film falters in its inability to deliver a compelling or deeply resonant emotional arc.
Enter Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Potter, the housekeeper-turned-stepmother who disrupts young Nigel’s life like a bomb going off. While entertaining in her eccentricity, Mrs. Potter feels like a missed opportunity to explore the complexity of the character’s situation — she instead is portrayed as a mercenary force who invades Nigel’s home, usurps his mother’s life, marries his father after leaving her own family, and there’s literally no exploration of why she decided to do any of it. Maybe that’s my fault for looking at this from an adult POV, not a child’s. Instead of being a fully realized figure, she is reduced to a caricature of a self-indulgent adult woman locked in a pointless battle for affection with an equally self-indulgent child. After too long it’s hard to really root for either of them as they snipe and strike at each other through food, but I was definitely more understanding of the kid’s immaturity than Mrs. Potter’s.
You expect childish behavior from a child, but when it comes from an adult, it’s harder to stomach. I dunno, maybe Slater’s real step-mother was exactly this tedious, though given the fact that both his memoir and the film it’s based on were subject to vehement disavowals by his step-mother’s other children that she was as immature and toxic as she’s portrayed in the film, it leads me to believe that Slater was enjoying some ice cold revenge. The adult Slater clearly had an agenda here and it shows.
Switching to focus a bit on the costume side of things, Toast is strongest here and in conjunction with the set design where it presents a believable, if not slightly polished, view of mid-century England. The costumes were designed by Sarah Arthur, whose work we all know from modern shows like Sherlock (2010-17) and The Sandman (2022-), to frock flicks like Lady Chatterley’s Lover (2015) and A Discovery of Witches (2018-22). I will admit that the visuals kept me watching when the characters were making me want to turn it off.
This lack of depth in the characters makes it difficult to empathize with the protagonist’s struggle, as the people around him appear more like exaggerated types than real individuals. The film’s overall tone, a mix of dark comedy and tender moments, often feels at odds with itself, as it never quite commits to either genre. The result is a film that looks great but ultimately lacks the emotional depth or insight to make it more than a surface-level exploration of a boy’s troubled upbringing where everybody sucks, including him.
Have you watched Toast (2010)? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!
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The film, like the book on which it’s based, is a pack of lies from beginning to end and a gross slander on the real stepmother.
My aunt had that couch! Except, it was covered in plastic. :)
I didn’t even know about it, and I follow Slater’s recipes in the weekend Guardian.
That is Mr Ken Stott as the Dad to boot, unless I’m much mistaken.