The Kitchen

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.

It is difficult to describe just how bad a movie can be...this one in particular is pretty bad...

In a strange attempt to port US racial issues to the UK it fails on almost every count. Poor direction, poor script and very bad acting...all of which might be over-looked if the end film was engaging at all...it isn't. It almost feels like watching a trailer for an hour and a half.

It isn't the worst film I've ever seen. Just what you expect from a modern movie...Boring plot. Boring characters etc.

I give it 5 out of 10 because there is some production value...totally wasted but it is there nonetheless.

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.

The Kitchen is a black ghetto in a dystopian near-future London. Izi works in a futurist funeral home where the dead are turned into plant food. Each family is given a plant which will be used in reforesting. Benji is a 12 year old saying goodbye to his mother. Izi recognizes her and stops to attend the funeral. With no family left, Benji believes that Izi is his long absent father, but Izi insists that he's not.

This sets up an interesting world and an interesting budding relationship. It does leave me a little cold. It's a bit too slow. I want the plot to do more. It's a debut indie for many involved. I see potential in these actors and filmmakers.

How frustrating was this! It had potential but it couldn't decide what it was. If you want to produce a character led drama, then invest in your script and your actors. It ain't no ''Children of Men'.

It didn't move me, nor excite me with anything. It just kept teasing me with what could have been. The characters were obvious and lack less, but that's not saying the performances weren't adequate. If only they were given more to work with.

It's a shame as Channel 4 has given us, over the years, some amazing films but I'm afraid, this lacked the grittiness of past productions. Nice idea, shame about the script and direction.