STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful
London, 2044. The gap between rich and poor has reached saturation point, and the vast majority of social housing has been taken away. In the midst of this, Izi (Kano), who works in a funeral centre, finds himself approached by Benji (Jedaiah Bannerman), a young man who has recently lost his mother, and is now looking for a role model. As the authorities move in to clear the remaining residents out of The Kitchen, the housing block Izi calls home, they must join together to save their future.
Daniel Kaluuya has become a fairly established star over the last few years, and now, along with co director Kibwe Tavares, he's delivered a directorial effort that's arrived with a subdued fanfare on Netflix, with revered 'grime' star Kano in the lead. For something so comparatively small scale, it certainly seems to have lofty ambitions, with a sci-fi element that gives it the feel of theatrical films like Attack the Block and Children of Men. But while there are some impressive elements in place, the whole thing is ultimately too scattershot and misdirected to succeed.
The futuristic element of the story is no small component of its being, and the set design of the futuristic, run down, decrepit tower block is certainly one of the film's high points, giving a searing vision of poverty existing well into the future. And it's an interesting, humourously off-kilter touch to have ex-footballer Ian Wright in a supporting role as the tower's resident radio broadcaster 'Lord Kitchener', pumping out classic tunes to keep everyone's spirits up. The big problem is the plot itself having no clear cohesion of where it wants to go, or what it wants to be, which is a big problem in a film nearing the two hour mark. The central theme of the plot seems to be the growth of wealth inequality, but this is rarely touched upon in any great depth at all, save in the most ambiguous touches.
Performances wise, Kano in the central force in the lead role, and his mumbling, moody tough guy act is convincing enough, among a cast of otherwise forgettable performers. In an otherwise forgettable film. **
London, 2044. The gap between rich and poor has reached saturation point, and the vast majority of social housing has been taken away. In the midst of this, Izi (Kano), who works in a funeral centre, finds himself approached by Benji (Jedaiah Bannerman), a young man who has recently lost his mother, and is now looking for a role model. As the authorities move in to clear the remaining residents out of The Kitchen, the housing block Izi calls home, they must join together to save their future.
Daniel Kaluuya has become a fairly established star over the last few years, and now, along with co director Kibwe Tavares, he's delivered a directorial effort that's arrived with a subdued fanfare on Netflix, with revered 'grime' star Kano in the lead. For something so comparatively small scale, it certainly seems to have lofty ambitions, with a sci-fi element that gives it the feel of theatrical films like Attack the Block and Children of Men. But while there are some impressive elements in place, the whole thing is ultimately too scattershot and misdirected to succeed.
The futuristic element of the story is no small component of its being, and the set design of the futuristic, run down, decrepit tower block is certainly one of the film's high points, giving a searing vision of poverty existing well into the future. And it's an interesting, humourously off-kilter touch to have ex-footballer Ian Wright in a supporting role as the tower's resident radio broadcaster 'Lord Kitchener', pumping out classic tunes to keep everyone's spirits up. The big problem is the plot itself having no clear cohesion of where it wants to go, or what it wants to be, which is a big problem in a film nearing the two hour mark. The central theme of the plot seems to be the growth of wealth inequality, but this is rarely touched upon in any great depth at all, save in the most ambiguous touches.
Performances wise, Kano in the central force in the lead role, and his mumbling, moody tough guy act is convincing enough, among a cast of otherwise forgettable performers. In an otherwise forgettable film. **