For years now, Daniel Kaluuya has been an incredible screen presence – bringing his considerable acting talent to the likes of Get Out, Nope, Widows, Queen & Slim, and Judas And The Black Messiah. Oh, and a certain seismic behemoth by the name of Black Panther. Next up, he’s moving behind the camera, making his directorial debut – alongside co-director Kibwe Tavares – with The Kitchen. The film, which debuted at the BFI London Film Festival earlier this year, is set in a dystopian future London, where social housing has been outlawed, and a south London estate known as ‘The Kitchen’ has become the last one to avoid demolition. With a dusting of sci-fi, and big, bold intentions, it’s set to be an attention-grabbing outing for Kaluuya as a filmmaker.
The intention, he tells Empire in the 2024 Preview issue, was to really capture the feeling of the capital on screen, even in a heightened futuristic incarnation. “We wanted to make a seminal London film, so we looked at the seminal city films,” Kaluuya tells Empire. “Do The Right Thing, La Haine, The Prophet, This Is England. We were just inspired by it all, and wanted to build upon the amazing work that the people before us have done, and do our own version of it.” In short, The Kitchen is going big. “A lot of British films do minimalism. We do maximalism,” says Kaluuya. “Let’s dream big, think big, see big and see where we land, but still be real about what we are and where we’re at.”
The film also marks Kaluuya’s return to writing, having begun way back on hit teen series Skins. Working alongside co-writer Joe Murtagh, the process, he says, was “natural” and “long overdue”, his narrative sensibilities influenced by the work he’s done onscreen for filmmakers including Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Shaka King, and Steve McQueen, to name but a few. “My journey as an actor has now influenced my writing,” he says. “Knowing what’s true and what’s not, and being receptive to it.” Get ready, then, for a new version of London that still feels like the real thing. “The markets felt like Kibwe’s reality in terms of Brixton, and mine when I was in Ridley Road Market and Seven Sisters,” Kaluuya says. “My mum used to take me, and I’d just be there for no reason because of the energy and the vibe that I felt.” Expect energy galore when The Kitchen hits the screen.
Read Empire’s full story on The Kitchen in the 2024 Preview issue – on sale Thursday 23 November, and available to order online here. The Kitchen comes to Netflix in early 2024.