‘The Kitchen’ review: Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya’s Urban Sci-Fi Finds an Emotional Arc in a Dark Vision of the Future – London Film Festival

There’s lofty ambition but modest intent in Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya’s down-to-earth debut The kitchen, a visually stunning depiction of what’s to come, in which all manner of protests simmer but never reach a boiling point. On the one hand, it’s a shame that it ends with a quiet moment of understanding just as all hell breaks loose. But on the other hand, it’s refreshing to see two young filmmakers trying to hone their storytelling skills instead of putting everything into one spectacular business card. As Attack the block If it hadn’t been so slavishly drawing inspiration from much better cult films to make a cult film in its own right, it might have looked like this: a true vision of a nightmarish, dystopian future that sets alarm bells ringing in every city . . Resident familiar with the depressing effects of gentrification.

The Kitchen is a kitchen sink development somewhere in London. Although most likely inspired by the ominous events at the city’s Elephant & Castle, where redevelopment developers promised social housing to evicted residents and then slapped them in the face, the landscape is eerily stagnant thanks to an abundance of skyscrapers. and other landmarks appear faint on the horizon (could it be the London Eye in the background, one of the Wembley Arches, or neither?). It’s a smart move that will turn heads in other cities and remind every urban backwater in the world suburbs from Paris to Favelas from Rio.

The kitchen set up its stand with two connected floors. In the first part, Isaac (Kane Robinson), aka Izi, is seen taking his morning shower at the area’s communal facilities, directly violating a strict bylaw requiring water supply. must is rationed. As angry residents line up, Izi bides his time, convinced that his stay on the property is about to come to an end – he will soon be moving into a (relatively) luxurious single apartment in the posh Buena Vida complex move in . Meanwhile, masked robbers on motorcycles carry out a daring robbery on a supermarket trolley, telling the frightened driver: “It’s nothing personal.” We want it Thenot you.” Once the job is done, the thieves drive the van into the kitchen and distribute the loot to a hungry crowd.

Izi is desperate to get out of the kitchen; he has been emotionally distant for some time and works hard at the Life After Life funeral home, where the ashes of the dead are mixed with seeds (presumably to save both space and the environment). . At an ex-girlfriend’s funeral, Izi is approached by the woman’s young son, Benji (Jedaiah Bannerman), who asks him about the kitchen. “Is that really what they say?” he asked. “A shithole?” replied Izi in a tone that said, Yes, that’s it.

With his mother gone, Benji has nowhere to stay, so he turns to the kitchen, which sometimes looks like a post-apocalyptic Peckham Market, sometimes teeming with just a touch of it Reloaded the matrixis the infamous rave scene. He encounters a rough crowd—the street pirates we saw in the opening throwing slingshots at the police drone cameras—but continues to pursue Izi, convinced he could be his missing father. Izi holds back all his questions. “This is the real world,” he says, “where nobody cares. You are alone. Get used to it.” Meanwhile, police SWAT teams invade the property and attempt to disperse the community and undermine their morale.

If that sounds bleak, it is Is fairly dark, with the sound always turned down a notch to the film’s kinetic dance scenes and daredevil motorcycle stunts. This tortured hangout atmosphere is a consistent theme, and the movie’s seriousness might be off-putting to anyone expecting a downtown scene. Angry road. But in a way, the film’s seriousness is an interesting counterpoint to the bells and whistles of the visual effects, using sci-fi tropes to reflect the dystopia of modern life as it already is.

Key to the atmosphere is Lord Kitchener of the pirate station Kitchen Radio; Lord Kitchener, played by footballer Ian Wright, himself an accomplished funk DJ, is the conscience of the kitchen (a device perhaps borrowed from Walter Hill’s). the soldiers). Music plays an important role throughout, with various genres used to reflect the social rather than racial mix of the cuisine, culminating in the extensive use of “How Great Thou Art”, a gospel song popularized by Elvis Presley, became internationally known.

The father-son story has an unexpected emotional arc, although it begins to irritate towards the end, despite the infectious appeal of newcomer Bannerman as the curious and stubborn Benji. But the surrounding context has something to offer, especially the grueling resistance of a beleaguered community against a faceless authority that wants to see them disappear, out of sight and out of mind. One of the rebels quietly tells Benji, “We just say no.”

Title: The kitchen
Festival: London Film Festival (closing night)
Distributor: Netflix
Directors: Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya
Screenwriters: Daniel Kaluuya, Joe Murtagh
Form: Kane Robinson, Jedaiah Bannerman, Hope Ikpoku Jr, Ian Wright, Teija Kabs, Cristale, BackRoad Gee
Time: 1 hour 38 minutes