'The Kitchen' is a First Step Towards a New Political Genre in British Film

It’s rare you see a British debut that so perfectly matches the sensibilities of both its co-directors and more refreshing if a British debut doesn’t concern itself with the soon-to-be tired themes of grief and trauma. Of course, The Kitchen is in part about both of those things – a full-bodied and appropriately angry elegy to the brutalization and segregation of London’s Black communities.

But the dystopian drama feels at times imaginative and shrewdly observant, glimpsing into the not-too-distant future where London’s social housing has been replaced with prison-like compounds, like “the Kitchen,” that barricade themselves from capitalist and carceral pressures like a fortress. The Kitchen is mourning not just an old London but the opportunities that have been denied since Black communities first formed in the city.

Daniel Kaluuya continues a compelling post-Oscar streak (his directorial debut comes on the heels of starring Nope and lending his voice to Across the Spider-Verse) with another project that explores a politicized and marginalized perspective within genre stories – even though his role is exclusively behind the camera. But co-director Kibwe Tavares’ presence is just as crucial – the British filmmaker and architect has won Sundance trophies for his shorts and has yet to make a film that isn’t concerned with the relationship between the marginalized body and the ecology of environments, how technology and power determine the lives of people who feel like a lesser priority than the space surrounding them.