Shows about cooking are all the rage. From your humdrum reality shows such as Ready, Steady, Master Cook Up a Storm, to watchable dramas such as Stephen Graham’s Boiling Point to the highly enjoyable The Bear. So anything food related is in.

Certainly leaning into the cooking genre, with a sprinkling of horror, is this Prime Original film starring Ariana DeBose.

Having spent seven years working her butt off in a swanky restaurant, Chef (DeBose) is ready for a new challenge – running her own restaurant.

As she’s seen as a rising talent, she gets backing from Andres (Arian Moayed), who gives her the capital for a quaint property upstate, in a pleasant rural area.

Chef is keen to impress with the responsibility given to her, but she’s unaware how much the location’s history is going to play on not only her menu, but her state of mind.

This is the second feature that Danielle Krudy and Bridget Savage Cole have not only written and directed together, but also specifically released on Prime. As you can guess, it feeds into the current appetite for food-related content, adding a darker flavour. Unfortunately, it’s not that dark, which is the film’s overall problem.

Their script aims to have an organic quality regarding the evil spirit that lurks on the property from the previous owner. So it’s darker The Bear. But the reality is that a bunch of bugs and rotten food just isn’t enough to scare an audience.

Like any decent recipe, it’s all about balance, and that’s seriously lacking here. The pair do well to create an intriguing atmosphere, but the crux of the story is so wishy washy, devoid of any kind of bite whatsoever.

Even their attempts at jump scares are pitiful, showing that they have little grasp of the horror genre or how it works.

The fact of the matter is, if you want a drama set in a kitchen, you will be served far better with the shows already mentioned. And if you want a substantial horror, then this doesn’t make the cut in any shape or form.