Review: Gritty Kitchen cooks with plots ’n plans
In the not-too-distant future, power and privilege conspire to tighten the screws on a downtrodden community.
Wilfred Okiche
The Kitchen, a sober dystopian vision set in a near-futuristic London is Daniel Kaluuya’s directorial feature debut.
The British-Ugandan actor, who won an Oscar for his work in Judas and the Black Messiah, is also famous for working with the director Jordan Peele on the blockbuster Nope, and hopefully needs no further introduction.
In this new expression of his talents, Kaluuya works with Kibwe Tavares. The Kitchen is the last of the city’s public housing projects that is yet to be taken over by the forces of gentrification. Not for long though as the authorities employ drone surveillance, utilities blockades and police raids to force the mostly Black and Brown population out. In the face of violent oppression, the people come together to fight back, united by a sense of community.
Upwardly mobile Izi (Kane Robinson) has lived his entire life in The Kitchen but he wants out, fast. He works at a funeral home, hustling burial packages in order to afford a down-payment on a soulless apartment in a fancier neighbourhood.
His solitary rhythm is rocked when he attends the funeral of his ex-girlfriend and comes across her teenage orphan Benji (Jedaiah Bannerman). The Kitchen explores the bond between these two damaged souls as they navigate their dependence on each other, tipping eventually into sentimentality. The actors are top-notch and are in tune with the screenplay’s sharp economy, communicating through shared glances, ellipses and body language.
Righteous anger courses through The Kitchen and Kaluuya and Tavares employ an eclectic soundtrack from Africa and the Black diaspora, not only as protest but to highlight the diverse origins of the communities that make their home in The Kitchen.
The production design work is solid with neon colours and cultural markers existing alongside nods to the elaborate world building of a film like Blade Runner.
It’s a solid, promising debut.