Three stories revolve around a man who tries to take control of his own life, a policeman whose wife seems like a different person, and a woman who searches for someone with a special ability.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, Hunter Schafer
Release Date: June 21, 2024
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rated R for strong/disturbing violent content, strong sexual content, full nudity and language.
Runtime: 2h 45m
Review:
Yorgos Lanthimos' Kinds of Kindness isn't going to be for everybody with the anthology's trio of twisted tales dissecting a series of overarching themes such as obsession, self actualization, amongst others, with pitch black humor and a bleak worldview. There's a fairly transparent sense that the cast and crew are well aware they aren't making something for general consumption as the stories veer into decidedly weird areas occasionally done for simple shock value with others presenting something more substantial to the proceedings. Each segment sets ups a very specific story but the script only provides some scant, basic details to get the audience acclimated to the plots and characters but very little outside detail beyond that. The abrupt endings give the film a whole disorienting feel throughout as you're given little to no time to digest what you've seen before moving to the next one. The stories leave plenty of unexplained plot points which are sure to frustrate plenty of people. At the very least, the film manages to burrow itself into the audience's mind as the cast and crew gives them plenty of leeway to make their own determination about what each section represents. The core ensemble made up of Jesse Plemons, Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau and Mamoudou Athie are clearly committed to Lanthimos's vision throughout. Plemons gets the lion’s share of the screen time across all three segments delivering strong work in each as he showcases his versatility. Emma Stone gets bigger spotlights in the second and third segments with Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley & Hong Chau mostly serving as supporting players across all three. The group works well together but really is most effective in the middle segment where the performances and oddity of it all coalesces into the film's most effective moments. Ultimately, Kinds of Kindness is a niche film that could be dissected as easily as its exalted depending on personal taste.
B+
