Directed by: Yorgos Lanthimos
Distributed by: Searchlight Pictures
Written by Taylor Baker
75/100
Yorgos Lanthimos has swiftly followed up his award season favorite “Poor Things” with “Kinds of Kindness,” a feature that feels in many ways like his early Greek language films “Dogtooth” and “Alps” while broadening the audience; not just by shooting in the English language, or packing his film to the gills with acting power, but presenting his themes with more speed and entertainment without losing the wit, absurdity, or cleverness that made “Dogtooth” and my personal favorite from his early years “Alps” so good. It’s also his first film since “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” where Lanthimos has reteamed with his frequent writing collaborator on those early films, Efthimis Filippou.
Before “Kinds of Kindness” begins, the Eurythmics song “Sweet Dreams” begins blaring, as the screen brightens, we find that the music is coming from a BMW as it pulls into a gorgeous and enormous home. A man of seeming little consequence named R.M.F. emerges from the vehicle to speak with Vivian, one of Margaret Qualley’s three characters in the film. Vivian snaps a quick photo to confirm for Raymond (Willem Dafoe) that R.M.F.’s shirt is well-ironed before handing him an envelope–seemingly of money–as payment to let Robert (Jesse Plemons) crash into him later that evening. The eccentric nature of these events and many to come, paired with the plain dialogue and exquisite cinematography of Robbie Ryan, conjure a dream-like ambiance to all three chapters of the film but the first, “The Death of R.M.F.” especially.
Presented in a triptych format, Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Mamoudou Athie, Margaret Qualley, and Joe Alwyn appear in each chapter as different individuals with differing relationships, circumstances, and desires, making audacious choices. Lanthimos and Filippou reach the heights of absurdity in the film when they once again examine the relationships humans have with our fellow mammals and how starkly it contrasts with how humans treat one another. In the second chapter; “R.M.F. is Flying,” where they seem to interrogate what would happen if we lost our pet and brought the wrong one into our home as a human problem, and rather than getting the wrong pet, we see Plemons’ character brought home the wrong spouse.
Each performance and character across every chapter is convincing. Once the eccentricity of the first chapter wears off and you settle into the film, it becomes easier and easier to suspend your disbelief. “Kinds of Kindness” is one of the sharpest films of the year and a real performance showcase for Plemons and Stone. It doesn’t reach the heights that “Alps” or “The Favourite” did, nor is it trying to. Despite his successes, Lanthimos continues to push himself and experiment with his ability, letting the audience watch him push himself without trying to lecture them as other filmmakers such as Ruben Östlund would and have. “Kinds of Kindness” will doubtlessly leave audiences divided, but it’s a sharp original film with much to look at and even more to think about. Audiences could do far worse this summer season.
“Kinds of Kindness” Trailer
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