For his debut as a filmmaker, Daniel Kaluuya has cooked up something fairly intriguing in “The Kitchen.”
Best known as the star of films such as the Jordan Peele-directed critical faves “Get Out” (2017) and “Nope” (2022), Kaluuya co-directed the commentary-filled science-fiction drama with Kibwe Tavares and co-wrote it with Rob Hayes and Joe Murtagh.
“The Kitchen” — a British film debuting in the United States this week on Netflix — is set in a near-future London in which public housing has been abolished and police force residents to abandon their homes. Against that compelling backdrop, Kaluuya and Co. tell the story of a man who comes to care for a boy after the latter loses his mother.
Unfortunately, that story — while very human and relatable — is a little bland, so we quibble a bit with the choice of ingredients. We wonder if the film may have been better served by allowing us to know other residents of The Kitchen. In this predominantly Black, working-class community, those living there are considered trespassers by the authorities and monitored regularly by police drones.
It is there we meet Izi (Kane Robinson), who leaves behind a fortified door and hears the morning announcements from The Kitchen’s man with a microphone, Lord Kitchener (Ian Wright). The latter informs the residents that while water is out in the community’s west wing (“they’ve finally done it”), it is available in the east wing (“but only go if you need”). When Izi finishes a shower in said wing, he exits into a long line of others banging on the door while waiting to use it.
Izi is yearning for a better life, one away from The Kitchen. He is saving what he can while working as a salesman at a funeral home to pay for a nicer apartment elsewhere in the city, checking notifications on his mirror about his status on a waiting list for a single-occupancy unit.
At the funeral home, the remains of a deceased person are used to grow one tree, the destiny of which depends on the package purchased by the person’s loved ones. It’s Izi’s job to up-sell them, of course.
One day at work, he takes a particular interest in a funeral, attended in person by the 12-year-old Benji (Jedaiah Bannerman) and by others virtually. They meet, with Izi admitting he knew Benji’s mother but being rather tight-lipped on the details.
Soon, Benji is helping him make a sale, but Izi seems willing to allow the youth to get only so close to him. However, after Benji falls in with a gang from The Kitchen that specializes in robberies, tries to take a more active role in his life. However, helping Benji and reaching his goals for a better life may not be accomplishable together.
On what at least would appear to be a modest budget, the makers of “The Kitchen” succeed in visually realizing this dystopian London, where residents of The Kitchen bang on pots and pans from their windows to alert others when the police are coming and where folks in better living conditions can select from a gallery of artificial cityscapes images on digital windows instead of gazing out into the urban decay. Kudos to production designer Nathan Parker for some nice work.
In The Kitchen, folks largely stick together, with the help of the steady presence of Lord Kitchener.
“They can’t stop we,” he implores more than once, adding at one tough moment: “They can only stop we if we see we as I.”
(This may be a good time to mention that, due to the thick accents used by characters in the film, we early on turned on the English subtitles. Highly recommend.)
That Izi so badly wants to leave could have been explored more deeply if, again, the writers had fleshed out more supporting characters. The movie is mainly Izi and Benji, although Izi does get some pushback about his not-so-fond feelings about The Kitchen from his co-worker and fellow resident Jase (Demmy Ladipo).
Fortunately, the two primary actors — especially Robinson, a British rapper who previously started in the British drama “Top Boy,” who successfully uses a less-is-more approach here — are interesting enough to help keep us invested.
While “The Kitchen” simmers for too long more than once, it is effective when it boils. That certainly goes for its final, tension-filled stretch.
Shortcomings and all, there’s enough good here to leave you eager to see what’s ahead for Kaluuya as a filmmaker.
‘The Kitchen’
Where: Netflix.
When: Jan. 19.
Rated: R for language.
Runtime: 1 hour, 47 minutes.
Stars (of four): 2.5.
