In The Kitchen, it is the near future and in London all social housing has been eliminated. The closest accommodation to social housing is ‘The Kitchen’ – a rundown housing community which gets raided by the police.
One of The Kitchen’s residents is Izi. When Izi isn’t referring to his home as a “shit hole”, he’s busy working at the budget-friendly funeral directors, Life After Life.
At one of the company’s latest funerals, Izi meets newly orphaned teenager, Benji. The teen has just said goodbye to his mother, leaving him alone in the world.
With Benji grieving and at a loose end, he soon makes his way to The Kitchen to seek out Izi. Benji sees Izi as a brotherly figure he can connect with, and he is keen to live him.
Izi agrees to take Benji under his wing and guide him as best as possible. But life is far from simple, and Benji soon gets caught up with the wrong crowd.
Directed by Daniel Kaluuya and Kibwe Tavares, and co-written by Kaluuya and Joe Murtagh, The Kitchen is a British drama set in a dystopian future. The movie stars Kano, Jedaiah Bannerman, and Ian Wright, and following its debut at the BFI London Film Festival last year, it is available to stream on Netflix from today.
Loaded with social commentary, which feels very relevant, The Kitchen is a smart film with lots to say. The movie also boasts two strong central performances from Kano and Bannerman, playing Izi and Benji respectively, so it has a fair bit going for it.
However, while many of the right components are in place, and there’s much to think about and sink your teeth into, The Kitchen is somewhat underwhelming. The film moves at a fairly slow pace, it takes a while to get going, and it never feels like it lives up to its potential.
The interactions between the two leads are solid and the depictions of the poorest in society (those simply trying to exist), are very well handled. A scene in the film, which showcases police brutality during a raid is particularly harrowing, and it is here where the move hits its best moments.
But the problem is, while The Kitchen is able to build out its world effectively, and it understands hardships at a grounded, street level, it feels like something is missing. The story never quite catches in the way I know it wants to, resulting in a film which tries, but doesn’t always succeed.
While watching this movie my interest levels were all over the place. I could see what it was going for, and at times it had me, but at other times I could have simply checked out.
While The Kitchen is a valiant attempt at a hard-hitting drama through a sci-fi(ish) lens, and is a decent movie in places, it is lacking something. The story needs to go deeper, the pacing a bit quicker, and overall it just needs to be a bit more interesting.
The Kitchen certainly leaves audiences with much to think about, but I’m not entirely convinced it works. It certainly didn’t work for me, but others might find it more agreeable.
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