The Kitchen is a 2023 British science fiction drama film directed by Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya from a screenplay from Kaluuya and Joe Murtagh. The film stars Kane Robinson, Jedaiah Bannerman, Hope Ikpoku Jr, Teija Kabs, Demmy Ladipo, Cristale, and BackRoad Gee.
The Kitchen had its world premiere at the 67th BFI London Film Festival on October 15, 2023. It was released in select cinemas in the United Kingdom on 12 January 2024 before its streaming debut by Netflix on 19 January 2024.
Premise and plot
Izi (Kane Robinson) lives in the Kitchen, a take on a futuristic housing project that has truly become a world of its own, like a mutated stack of buildings reminiscent of Hong Kong’s former Kowloon Walled City. Sequestered on the outskirts of metropolitan London, the Kitchen houses the city’s poor community and is the frequent target of brutal, violent police raids. Izi works in the city at a futuristic funeral service, Life After Life, where families too poor to afford a burial can instead have their loved ones turned into trees for planting. Anticipating that his community is on the brink of a final takeover from the government, they have been prepping and saving up to move out of the Kitchen. On the whole, Izi is a loner, having only acquaintances and no friends (later affirmed by the fact that he didn’t know his closest friend had a daughter). He has no one to look out for but himself, but his plans become complicated when he has a run in with recently orphaned Benji (Jedaiah Bannerman).
The young boy starts to cling to him, joining him first at the Life After Life facility and then following him into the Kitchen, consequently establishing relationships with a group of young vigilante activists. Feeling a sense of protection for him, Izi and Benji develop a bond that tethers Izi back to the home he was ready to leave. As the raids become more frequent and the state of the Kitchen grows dire, the duo confronts the impending conflict and violence together amidst their own journey toward learning, and for Benji, relearning, how to navigate the world with someone else by your side.
Cast
- Kane Robinson as Izi
- Jedaiah Bannerman as Benji
- Hope Ikpoku Jr as Staples
- Teija Kabs as Ruby
- Demmy Ladipo as Jase
- Cristale as Lianne
- BackRoad Gee as Kamale
- Rasaq Kukoyi as Arinze
- Reuben ‘Trizzy’ Nyamah as Dirty
- Henry Lawfull as Cronik
- Alan Asaad as Oozie
- Ian Wright as Lord Kitchener
Production
The Kitchen is the feature-length directorial debut of both Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya. Tavares, Kaluuya, and producer Daniel Emmerson began developing the film in 2014, after a conversation in a barbershop. In 2016, the film was selected for Sundance’s Screenwriting and Directing Lab.
Production on the film took place from March to June 2022. The film was shot entirely on location in London at the old London Electricity Board Building on Cambridge Heath Road and Paris.
Release date
The Kitchen premiered as the closing film of the 67th BFI London Film Festival on October 15, 2023. It was released in select cinemas in the United Kingdom on 12 January 2024 before its streaming debut by Netflix on 19 January 2024.
Review
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 35 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website’s consensus reads: “Smart sci-fi that’s solidly grounded in social commentary, The Kitchen suggests a bright future for the directing duo of Daniel Kaluuya and Kibwe Tavares.” Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 68 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.
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