Daniel Kaluuya is already a renowned actor and Academy Award winner on screen, but now he’s seeing what he can do behind the camera.
The Get Out and Judas And The Black Messiah star has co-written the script for a dystopian drama titled The Kitchen alongside Gangs Of London writer Joe Murtagh, and the film is being developed for Netflix.
The Kitchen takes place in 2044 London, and revolves around a future where the wealth gap has been stretched to its limits. The idea of affordable housing, which is currently provided by the state, a non-profit organization, or a hybrid of the two, has long since washed away.
Thus, working class citizens have been pushed to the edges of London to live in The Kitchen, a giant housing complex that offers its residents short-term living quarters. Living among the countless families searching for a means to an end are protagonists Izi and Benji.
Izi is sick of The Kitchen and is looking for an out no matter the cost, while Benji, lost and alone after the death of his mother, desperately wants to create deep bonds with those surrounding him. The film will follow both characters as they journey through their upsetting reality on a quest to find some hope in it all.
The two leads for the project have already been cast, with rapper and actor Kane Robinson (Top Boy) starring as Izi and Jedaiah Bannerman playing Benji. Michael Fassbender is also on board to executive produce the film alongside Kaluuya and Murtagh, with Kaluuya producing through his banner 59% Productions.
Kaluuya reportedly came up with the idea for the film alongside Kibwe Tavares (Noughts + Crosses) and Daniel Emmerson (Calm With Horses). In a statement, he revealed the idea began to form in his head back in 2011 during a visit to the barbershop.
Kaluuya recalled that “there was a guy boasting about smash and grabs – kids doing million-pound heists in a minute, getting paid £200 to do it.” From this statement he saw the opportunity to mold a film around “the inequality, fatherhood, class, joy, resilience, courage, defiance and care of London.”
Kaluuya is known for starring in socially conscious films, and it looks like he’s going to continue that streak with his writing. The premise of The Kitchen has plenty of potential to become a memorable British cinematic dystopia in the vain of Children Of Men.
The film is loosely scheduled for a 2023 release. Kaluuya will next be seen re-teaming with Get Out director Jordan Peele for the highly anticipated horror film Nope, which hits cinemas in late July. He’s also set to reprise his role as W’Kabi in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which will arrive in November.
#Peace.Love.TheKitchen
