Famous actor Daniel Kaluuya (Black Panther, Black Mirror) is making his directorial debut with the 2023 film The Kitchen. For those who have followed Kaluuya’s career, the subject matter and tone shouldn’t come as a surprise.
The Kitchen is set to release on January 12, 2024. Co-directed by Kibwe Tavares and Kaluuya for Netflix, The Kitchen is a dystopian sci-fi film set in a future London where all social housing has disappeared. This obvious social commentary on late-stage capitalism has the potential to rouse discussions on the state of the housing market and government corruption.
Netflix recently dropped the first trailer for The Kitchen:
The original film stars Kane Robinson, Jedaiah Bannerman, BackRoad Gee, Demmy Ladipo, and more. Despite appearances, The Kitchen isn’t based on existing source material. The Kitchen premiered on October 15, 2023, at the BFI London Film Festival. Production for the movie started back in 2014, an abnormally long development time for a project.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Kaluuya said he initially imagined the project as “Reservoir Dogs in a barber shop.” From there, he started brainstorming more ideas to flesh the story out. The story came together after Kaluuya heard people talking about smash-and-grab robberies at various jewelers in London. “I heard about the heists and how the guys doing it were getting £200. £200?” Kaluuya told Rolling Stone. “That means there’s no one around they can sell it to for a million. It said a lot about class.”
Both class and race seem to be at the heart of The Kitchen. Barber shops are well-known staples of low-income neighborhoods, and are a beacon of support for Black communities as well. Kaluuya is no stranger to social commentary projects, having previously starred in Jordan Peele’s Get Out, which tackled Obama-era racism in white middle-class America.
From the details given, The Kitchen sounds fairly promising. We look forward to seeing what Kaluuya has in store for us.
(featured image: Netflix)
