With the news that Emerald Fennell’s wicked tale of privilege and desire Saltburn will be the opening film of this year’s BFI London Film Festival, we’ve been waiting patiently to discover what film will draw the festival to a close. It’s now been revealed that Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya’s The Kitchen has been given the honour.

In a dystopian London, the gap between rich and poor has been stretched to its limits. All forms of social housing have been eradicated and only The Kitchen remains. Exploring themes of community, inequality, family, resilience, defiance and care in a dystopian London, The Kitchen is directed by British filmmakers Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya, the latter of whom also screenwrites with Joe Murtagh. The film will receive its world premiere on Sunday 15th October at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, ahead of its release into UK cinemas and subsequent launch on Netflix.

Tavares and Kaluuya, said: “We both grew up in London, and The Kitchen is a love letter to our city, so it’s a true honour to premiere it here, in our hometown, on the closing night of BFI’s London Film Festival. Starting a decade ago as a workshop in a local barbershop, the film’s journey from script to screen has been a continued collaboration between us, and the community of cast and crew that came to make up our ‘Kitchen'”.

The 67th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express takes place from Wednesday 4 October to Sunday 15 October, 2023.