Movie review
October 15, 2023 · 109 min · R · Sci-Fi · Comedy · Thriller · Adventure · Drama
Izi lives in The Kitchen, the last social housing estate in a future London where poor people have been pushed out of the city. He works at a funeral business and saves money for a small flat in the rich Buena Vida complex. After he meets Benji, a 12-year-old boy whose mother has died, Izi must choose between leaving and caring for the boy. The film mixes tense police raids, street crime, music, and warm scenes of neighbors helping one another.
Class and housing politics drive the whole story. The city has ended social housing, luxury homes surround The Kitchen, and armed police keep attacking the residents so the land can be cleared. The film treats private wealth, forced removal, and state power as the main causes of suffering, while it presents the estate's shared life as worth protecting. Izi's bond with Benji gives the political message a family story, but race, gender, and queer identity are not the main subject.
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Was our 60% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Kitchen.
Woke representation / casting
Most named residents and major gang figures are black, including Izi, Benji, Staples, and Ruby. The film presents The Kitchen as a Black London community, so identity is visible across the main cast. The story does not explain why this estate has a mostly black population. The pattern is clear, but it is not a one-of-each group or a gender-swap story.
34%
Woke political dialogue
Residents talk about the city taking their land and leaving them behind. Staples says the gang steals from richer areas to correct an unfair system. During a police raid, Benji says “I can’t breathe,” which recalls a Black Lives Matter protest phrase. These lines make the politics clear, but they appear in a few key scenes rather than throughout every conversation.
35%
Identity-driven story themes
The story follows a mostly black working-class community facing removal, police raids, and control of basic needs. The film connects the residents' identity with a wider story about poverty and state power. Benji's “I can't breathe” moment brings a clear Black Lives Matter reference into the main conflict. Family and class stay larger than race or identity, so this theme is important but not dominant.
38%
Western institutional / cultural critique
The city has ended social housing and pushes poor workers into a crowded estate. Luxury towers, police drones, armed raids, and forced removal show institutions serving money and control. Residents say the land is being taken, and they fight back against the city. The film treats housing policy, private wealth, and state force as harmful, so this critique shapes the whole plot.
62%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The film is an original story and does not change an established character, canon, or historical figure.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Not present. Public complaints focused on slow pacing, an unclear ending, and thin world building. No clear anti-woke, anti-DEI, or identity-politics backlash was found.
0%
Creator track record context
Daniel Kaluuya's public record includes films about race and support for underrepresented black filmmakers. Kibwe Tavares has made work about race, class, migration, and black communities. Amy Baty often writes about women and gender, while Aisha Bywaters supports meaningful diversity in casting. Joe Murtagh and the listed producers have weaker or mixed links to activist themes. This background supports the film's social focus, but the film's own story remains the stronger evidence.
54%
Production
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