2024 PREVIEW
11 DANIEL KALUUYA Gets Cooking
THE ACTOR TURNS DIRECTOR WITH A DISTURBING SOCIAL DRAMA
THE KITCHEN
OUT 19 JAN
“We did it by accident, but I think this is the antithesis of a kitchen-sink drama,” says Daniel Kaluuya. “The Kitchen is the whole fucking room!”
Kaluyaa, who co-directs the film with Kibwe Tavares and co-writes with Joe Murtagh, faced a challenge. Wanting to create a new vision of a dystopian London, there was much to weigh up. In developing such sci-fi vistas, some filmmakers opt for a more fantastical approach, where the present is a distant memory. Others heighten our current malaise, turning it into something potent and vital. It’s that latter category that The Kitchen fits into, giving us something that looks and sounds familiar while also feeling like something we haven’t quite seen before. So, yes. The whole fucking room.
The hard-hitting Black British drama has a lot on its mind. Simultaneously sweeping yet deeply personal and grounded, its sprinkles of futuristic seasoning add to an all-too-real foundation. Its origins date back to 2012. That’s when Kaluuya — who was then starring in Tavares’ short film Jonah — found some downtime on set to pitch an idea to his director. “Some guy in my barbershop was talking about smash and grabs,” Kaluuya recalls. “I did more research and realised they were doing million-pound heists, but getting paid £200. There’s a lot happening there with that statement. So I was just on it, and I leaned in.” In 2014, £200 apiece is what Kaluuya, Tavares, and producer Daniel Emmerson each contributed to rent out the same barbershop and hire some actors to experiment with his concept. “Daniel wrote some improvised scenarios, and we used the footage to cut together a mood reel with some of our other favourite films that felt like references,”