‘The Kitchen’: Dystopian Thriller from Daniel Kaluuya Headed to Netflix

Daniel Kaluuya is set to co-write and co-produce The Kitchen, a new British dystopian thriller movie for Netflix with Kibwe Tavares directing, What’s on Netflix has learned. After being in production since 2016, the film will be released on Netflix worldwide in 2023.

DMC Film and 59% Productions are collaborating to make the futuristic dystopian film. Film4 and Factory Fifteen also produce.

Here’s a logline for the “high concept” project set to film in London and Paris which, according to sources, has begun:

“London, 2040 – rising house prices, computerized labour and eradication of the Welfare State has turned the city into a billionaire’s playground, pushing the lower classes to provincial empty slum-like high rises like The Kitchen. Ex-Smash-and-Grabber Izi is desperate to go straight but when his young son contracts a devastating illness, he is forced to take part in a heist that will change the lives of everyone in The Kitchen forever.”

Daniel Kalyuya shares the news of the film via Instagram

“This one has been 8 years in the making with director @kibwetavares and producer Dan Emmerson, started from a conversation in a barbershop when I found out kids were doing million pound heists in a minute for £200 to a dystopian London in the future.

Production just started on The Kitchen. Proud to be co-writing (w/ Joe Murtagh) and producing on this one through my production company 59%, DMC film, Film 4 & @netflixuk @netflix.

Starring @therealkano and Jedaiah Bannerman.

Looking forward to you guys taking it away with you.

Outside soon.

In a bit.”

Script for Netflix’s The Kitchen

Who’s behind The Kitchen on Netflix?

Daniel Kaluuya and Kibwe Tavares came up with the initial concept for the project. Daniel Emmerson is also involved in different capacities.

Kibwe Tavares, who will be making his feature film director debut with the movie. He’s the founder of a production company called Factory Fifteen. He notably worked on the BBC’s Noughts + Crosses as an executive producer but also has directed and written many sci-fi shorts over the years including Robot & Scarecrow, Polar Bear, and Robots of Brixton.

Noughts + Crosses – Picture: BBC

Tavares spoke about the project:

“The Kitchen is very much a love letter to London, the city that has defined my childhood and ultimately my identity. It’s set in an extreme version of our current world; our characters have little choice but to let the city take over them. Through Benji, a 12 year old in need of care, we explore what we as society lose in the ever changing and shifting patterns of life, of our cities. This is a film for all the communities out there that are trying to take care of each other.”

Pictured: Joe Murtagh and Daniel Kaluuya

Joe Murtagh and Daniel Kaluuya co-wrote the project.

Daniel Kaluuya is the Oscar-award-winning actor, writer, and producer known for the likes of Get Out, Black Panther, and Netflix’s Black Mirror episode Fifteen Million Merits. He’s been involved with the project since the beginning.

Kaluuya is also attached to another high-profile Netflix project in which he’ll star and produce. We’re referring to The Upper World first announced for Netflix back in August 2020. Kaluuya was mentioned in the aforementioned interview to star in the Netflix movie but whether that’s still the case is unknown.

Joe Murtagh was involved in two important projects, Calm with Horses (another DMC Film), and Gangs of London.

Who’s starring in Netflix’s The Kitchen?

Pictured (L/R): Kane Robinson – Photo by Olivia Rose – Jedaiah Bannerman – Photo by Albert Sackey

Two names have been announced for the movie alongside today’s announcement.

Kane Robinson will be playing the lead role of Izi having recently appeared in Netflix’s Top Boy season 2.

Jedaiah bannerman will be playing the role of Benji's co-lead.

Since 2006, the Kitchen is in continuous development

This project was in development for some time. It was first publicly announced back in 2016 taking part in a Sundance Directors Lab scheme but featured again via ScreenDaily’s 2018 profile on DMC Film.

The profile talks about the then-upcoming movie Calm with Horses (a movie that Netflix licensed in many regions last year) and even talk about a “dystopian thriller” called “The Kitchen, written by Daniel Kaluuya and to be directed by Kibwe Tavares.”

Going back to 2017, Tavares spoke to OnePointFour about talking about what we can expect but added that production would be starting in 2018 (that didn’t happen) and that funding could be an issue especially given the scope of the movie:

“We’re hopefully going into production at some point next year. We’ve got our core financier Film4 and then we’re going to get some more finance from other partners, we’ve got one more draft before we do that. But we’ve got a lot of interest because Daniel Kaluuya is starring in it and he was also in Get Out, which was a big smash hit this summer, and we’ve always had a lot of interest anyway from Sundance, they’ve been willing us and pushing us to make it.”

The movie is now available on Netflix thanks to Fiona Lamptey, director of UK features at Netflix. She joined Netflix in October 2020.

We’ll be keeping you up-to-date on this movie