What is it about?
Amid growing injustice and generosity, a young boy finds his place in the last place left for London’s most vulnerable residents.
The Kitchen, a film by Daniel Kaluuya and Joe Murtagh, directed by Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya with Kane Robinson, Jediah Bannerman, Hope Ikpoku Jr.…
Black Mirror style atmosphere
In a dystopian London, where the gap between the rich and the poor is extreme, social housing has simply been eliminated. But a small community called “Kitchen” refuses to leave the territory it occupies. It is nothing more and nothing less than a ramshackle former social housing estate whose proud residents live in poverty under constant government surveillance and raids.
With The Kitchen, behind the camera for the first time, Daniel Kaluuya, the actor who revealed Get Out then Black Panther, tackles a social tale that takes on the contours of Black Mirror with its dystopian world. A world he’s no stranger to, having played himself in Charlie Brooker’s Season 2 Episode 2, “Fifteen Million Merits.”
He chooses a futuristic London, but not too far away, because the action takes place in the 2040s. There are gleaming apartment buildings that offer secluded living to those who can afford it. Who can not “kitchen”.
Izzy (Top Boy’s Kane Robinson) has had enough of police raids and water shortages. He focused on a one-bedroom apartment in the upscale Buena Vida neighborhood. Just when he thinks he’s (almost) out of the kitchen, something stops him: young Benjy (Jediah Bannerman), the son of an ex-lover who’s about to lose his mother, risks being drawn into a violent riot in the town of Staples. (hopefully Ikpoku Jr.) is leading against the government.
It’s part of his personal journey that Daniel Kaluuya tells in this film, with an added dystopian element. He grew up in the Kentish Town area of Camden with a Ugandan mother who works in a special school and an older sister. He remained in his possession for many years, even after achieving success. He had his own little apartment and would go to the theater, sometimes for months at a time, and then come back.
But after a while he realized that it wasn’t working anymore. His friends told him that he shouldn’t stay, that things have changed and people are leaving, that others are coming to settle. Slowly he realized that he had to go too. In his film, Izzy is caught between two fires: the desire to leave (“leave this alley” as he says) and the desire to stay, despite everything…
The Kitchen is currently available on Netflix
Source: Allocine

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.