The Kitchen

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.

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.

When you watch this movie for the very first time, you will soon realize that you are facing a very bizarre but brilliant atmosphere . Somewhere is London possibly but in the future.

The Idea of this movie is quite attractive, it will engage your mind and your guts in a very emotional way and it tells a story about people's challenges and difficulties as n a different era, it is future and people are changed but not in a good way except technology.

However, it is a shame the director of this movie was not able to deliver the same quality of the initial idea . It is the shame that the DOP work was disastrous, lack of stage direction, lack of right camera movement, incorrect framing , lack of actors direction and not even a good engaging editing . This movie could have been positioned one of the top 30 movies in the world , this movie could have been compared with blade runner at some point but the movie director wasn't chosen wisely and did destroy the whole work.

Finally the production design team did a very good job and it was right for purpose of this movie.

The Kitchen portrays a destitute community grappling with eviction and poverty, with the protagonist, Izi, employed at a funeral home. It is here that he encounters Benji and takes him under his wing. Izi's aspiration is to transcend the challenges of the Kitchen and secure a more promising dwelling, and the film delves into the evolving dynamics of Izi and Benji's relationship.

Despite its dystopian backdrop, the movie's futuristic elements predominantly influence its visual aesthetics rather than substantively shaping the narrative. Without these futuristic elements, it could easily have been an episode on Top Boy.

Throughout the film, the lack of a cohesive direction leaves viewers disconnected from the characters. The conclusion, in particular, proves to be notably unsatisfying, offering little resolution to pivotal events that transpired earlier.

Jedaiah Bannerman's portrayal of Benji suffers from lackluster acting, exacerbated by dialogue that comes across as uninspired. In contrast, Hope Ikpoku Jnr, in the role of Staples, stands out as the one actor who excels within the constraints of limited screen time.

Regrettably, the film falls short of expectations, and it is hoped that both the director and the writers can refine their storytelling skills to deliver a more engaging cinematic experience in the future.

The acting is incredible, the directing is brilliant, the cinematography is gorgeous. It has been well written and well executed. It's pretty obvious how we have got to this 'dystopian future', so I don't agree with other reviews that this was lacking from the film. In fact, it's more of a reflection of modern society, and says a lot about the world we already live in, today - not so much dystopian at all. There are people living in London today with lives similar to those depicted in this film; waiting for people to come and pull them from their homes, powerless, but finding solidarity in community. Rampant capitalism, large corporations exploiting and disregarding the poor. So many stories are being told, by following the story of Izi and Benji. It's really a beautiful piece of cinema, that manages to say a lot about life.

However, it is a slow film. It's a thoughtful film. I think it will be lost on some people, whose expectations of a Kano and Daniel Kaluuya film will not be met. I think, in some parts, it was too slow - but at the same time, not a scene was wasted, A strange ambivalence to it, as it is, at the end, the sum of its parts.