Mads Mikkelsen and Boyd Holbrook have been cast in writer/director Ramin Bahrani’s ‘Last Meals.’
Mikkelsen will star as Walter Karat, a former White House Chef whose fall from grace lands him in the kitchen of a maximum security prison cooking for death row inmates.
Holbrook will star as Jeffrey ‘Reed’, a death row inmate who decides to go on a hunger strike.
The story follows Walter, a maestro chef who ascended to the highest kitchen in the nation – The White House – before his combative perfectionism cost him everything and left him disgraced and forgotten. Years later, he works in the unlikeliest of places: a maximum-security prison, where he’s assigned to prepare last meals for inmates on death row.
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Here, Walter meets Reed, an inmate on a hunger strike, whose constant rejection of his meals frustrates him at every turn. Their animosity reaches a boiling point until Walter confronts Reed, triggering an unexpected deeper connection – Walter starts to believe Reed is innocent. As the two bond, Walter is determined to find out the truth.
Hannah, a local food critic stuck at the local paper but with greater journalistic ambitions, finds renewed purpose in Walter’s story, and whilst she initially challenges Walter’s ego and exposes his flaws, over time she becomes a crucial ally. Together, Walter, Reed, and Hannah embark on a journey of guilt, reconciliation and justice. As their efforts capture national attention during a heated presidential campaign, and put Reed’s plight into the spotlight. Walter faces a final life-defining choice: a second chance at career glory, or risk everything to fight for something that truly matters.
From a screenplay by Justin Piasecki (Relay), the original prison drama explores ideas of guilt, the death penalty, and redemption, all through the lens of food of the highest order, and the world’s most infamous meal: the Ortolan.
Renée Tab packaged the film and will produce for Sentient Entertainment. Christopher Tuffin of Strong Island will also produce. Executive Producers include Charles Porter of Black Bench Productions, Kelly Price of Blessed From Above, Karan Hoss of Hoss Productions and Jeeny & Michael Miller of Miller Way. Mads Mikkelsen, Ramin Bahrani, Justin Piasecki & Boyd Holbrook will also executive produce.
