London is a near-future dystopia in the new sci-fi drama “The Kitchen,” but it’s not the kind you walk on over to at midnight for a little yummy snack. Deco’s Alex Miranda is here with more delicious deets.
Really, this movie isn’t about food, but we do love a good pun — almost as much as we love food.
Now, Oscars darling Daniel Kaluuya, who you know from “Get Out” and other extraordinary performances, is going behind the scenes in his directorial debut.
This kitchen isn’t really for cooking.
In “The Kitchen,” a new sci-fi drama set in dystopian London, all forms of social housing have been eradicated.
Jedaiah Bannerman (as Benji): “I don’t got anywhere else to go.”
And only one, called The Kitchen, remains.
Daniel Kaluuya has been cooking up this film for, believe it or not, 10 whole years.
Alex Miranda: “I’m sure you would have wanted to do the project a whole lot earlier, but you did it now, 10 years later. What kept it going all these years in your mind?”
Daniel Kaluuya: “I think it was just the element of me wanting to see my London, the London that I looked around, being in a cinematic lexicon. Watching the intellect and the heart and the humanity of the people that I was walking around and seeing in my life.”
The gap between rich and poor has been stretched to its limits, and this community refuses to move out. Well, except for Kano’s character, Izi.
Kano: “Izi goes on a journey. He’s someone who doesn’t see himself as part of the community anymore, and he wants out. He wants what he considers a better life.”
That is, until he learns his ex-girlfriend has an orphaned son.
Alex Miranda: “The core of it, really, is a father-son story.”
Kano: “When Benji comes along, he has to find it within himself to care about someone else other than himself, and I think it’ll touch a lot of people when watching this, regardless of if they’ve been in the same situation or not. It really makes you think about what connection is, what community is and what family is.”
Really quickly, I just want to point out how Daniel looks like he’s about to pass out. Love the guy, but the Oscar winner co-wrote and, for the first time, co-directed this film, so he’s gotta be tired.
Alex Miranda: “You’re an extraordinarily skilled actor, and did you feel in the first days that that translated to you being a director, too?”
Daniel Kaluuya: “No. Definitely have respect for directing. It was a humbling experience, man. I loved being a student, essentially, and learning, and going, ‘Oh, I don’t know anything,’ you know, or, ‘I don’t know how as much as I do in a certain space,’ and going on that journey.”
And look, I had to ask.
Alex Miranda: “Guys, sorry, stupidest question ever, but are you two good in the kitchen? I’m not — I get those Factor foods delivered and all that. Are you good in the kitchen?”
Kano: “Yes.”
Daniel Kaluuya: “No.”
[Kano and Daniel laugh.]
Daniel Kaluuya: “Next question.”
“The Kitchen” starts streaming this Friday on Netflix.
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