The Kitchen

2023

Action / Adventure / Drama / Sci-Fi / Thriller

18
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 45% · 66 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 45% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 4.8/10 10 8932 8.9K

london, england dystopia coming of age urban decay social issues 2040s

Plot summary

Izi's close to escaping The Kitchen, one of London's last remaining housing estates. But when young Benji enters his life, he faces some hard decisions.

Director

Daniel Kaluuya Photo
Daniel Kaluuya

Top cast

Rhys Yates Photo
Rhys Yates as Police Officer Jay
Henry Lawfull Photo
Henry Lawfull as Cronik
Kane Robinson Photo
Kane Robinson as Izi
Hope Ikpoku Jnr Photo
Hope Ikpoku Jnr as Staples
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 2160p.WEB
999.53 MB
1280*534
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us   ar   eu   ca   cn   hr   cz   dk   nl   es   fi   fr   gl   de   gr   il   hu   id   it   ja   kr   ms   no   pl   pt   ro   ru   sv   th   tr   uk   vi  
24 fps
1 hr 48 min
Seeds 4
2.01 GB
1920*802
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us   ar   eu   ca   cn   hr   cz   dk   nl   es   fi   fr   gl   de   gr   il   hu   id   it   ja   kr   ms   no   pl   pt   ro   ru   sv   th   tr   uk   vi  
24 fps
1 hr 48 min
Seeds 14
4.85 GB
3840*2160
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
N/A
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by matt_hew 2 / 10

Pot Noodle.

Bland. Mucky & Pointless. Offers no value. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth.The movie is just too vague and low on ingredients (or a real story) to offer it's audience anything of worth.The setting and timeframe feels stolen from a much better dystopian movie which offers nothing to the plot. The SciFi elements feel more like they are added to reinforce an idea which is already wafer-thin and feels hindered by budget to actually create any impact.The story is more of a premise that hasn't been formulated into anything, which combined by the weak characters results in a complete lack of focus where no one really stands out, there is no one to root for and by the end you don't care about any of them.And what leaves a bad taste in the mouth is that the trailer is deceptively misleading. You think you're getting something gourmet but it's just boil in the bag.
Reviewed by djrmc24 5 / 10

A mixed bag

The Kitchen had so much potential with it's premise but ultimately falls victim to a slow moving script and frustrating story. The film depicts a bleak dystopian futurist society in 2044 London where people are seperated by wealth gaps. The pros of this film are the visuals/cinematography and performances. The Kitchen can't make up it's mind what type of story it wants to be which will cause confusion by the viewer. During it's short run time I felt like this movie was over 2 hours long but was only a little over one hour 30 minutes. The ending is also very unsatisfying and leaves up to interpretation. I was interested within the first 5 minutes of the movie but it quickly derails. The Kitchen gets 5 stars out of 10 from me.
Reviewed by FixedYourEnding 4 / 10

The Kitchen: A Dystopian Disaster That Fails to Cook Up Any Sci-Fi or Drama

The Kitchen is a dystopian drama that follows the lives of Izi, a funeral home worker, and Benji, a young boy he mentors, as they struggle to survive in a bleak urban environment of some unexplained future. The movie attempts to create a futuristic setting, but fails to integrate it into the story or explore its implications. The movie also suffers from a lack of direction, character development, and dialogue, leaving the audience detached and dissatisfied. The only redeeming quality of the movie is the performance of Hope Ikpoku Jnr as Staples, a charismatic gang leader who steals every scene he is in. Overall, "The Kitchen" is a disappointing and boring movie that wastes its potential and its cast and it is another brick in the Netflix collection of trash.The movie opens with a scene of a group of kids on motorbikes robbing a food truck and bringing it back to their community, known as the Kitchen. The movie never explains why the Kitchen is in such a state of poverty and oppression, or why the police are trying to evict its residents. The movie also never shows how the futuristic elements, such as high-tech messages on the mirror or holographic advertisements, affect the lives of the characters or the society. The movie seems to use these elements as mere props, without any meaningful connection to the plot or the themes, basically Sci-Fi sells so we should throw some of that in sort of feeling.The movie then introduces us to Izi, who works at a funeral home and dreams of escaping the Kitchen and finding a better place to live. He meets Benji, a young boy who has lost his parents and is living on the streets. Izi takes Benji under his wing and tries to teach him how to survive in the harsh reality of the Kitchen. The movie tries to portray the bond between Izi and Benji, but fails to make us care about them or their struggles. The movie does not give us any insight into their personalities, backgrounds, or motivations. The movie also does not show us how they grow or change as a result of their experiences. Some other characters, such as "Lord Kitchen", a mysterious figure who broadcasts music and messages to the Kitchen, also fails to attach any explanation or add any value to the story.The movie ends with a vague and unsatisfying conclusion, that leaves many questions unanswered and many conflicts unresolved. The movie does not explain what happens to the Kitchen, or to Izi and Benji, or to the other characters we met along the way. The movie does not offer any message or lesson, or any reason to watch it in the first place. It is a poorly executed and poorly written movie, that does not deliver on any of the promises it makes. It is not a sci-fi movie, nor a drama movie, nor a good movie. It is a waste of time and money, and a disappointment to anyone who expects more from cinema.I doubt that anybody who is not a friend of the production will give this movie anything over a '5'. I am giving this a '4' as I was tempted to stop watching it several times throughout, and I'm sure you will too.
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