Fresh off the success of last year’s Poor Things, writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos and his ingenue Emma Stone quickly announced their next film together, taking advantage of the goodwill their cinematic partnership has engendered. Less than a year later, their next entry on the big screen has hit theaters with the anticipation to be expected from an Oscar winning pairing.
Kinds of Kindness is an anthology of three separate stories, one following Robert (Jesse Plemons) whose life is being controlled by his eccentric boss Raymond (Willem Dafoe) and tries to take control of it back; a policeman named Daniel (Plemons) who is alarmed that his wife Liz (Stone) who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems to be a different person; and a woman named Emily (Stone) determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader.
Kinds of Kindness is Lanthimos at his best, using weirdness as a backdrop for examining serious human emotions and experiences. In this film, the running theme of the film’s three stories is devotion and the lengths people will go to in order to display theirs to those that they love. Once viewers get past the displays of cannibalism, wanton violence, and kidnapping, what Robert, Daniel, and Emily each are facing is the dread of losing someone or a group of those whom they love and, in their desperation, are willing to do anything to display their commitment to those they love and desire to please them and keep them in their lives. “The things we do for love” and “Love makes us do crazy things” are common idioms we all have grown accustomed to hearing throughout our lives, and Lanthimos’ gory and over-the-top sensibilities pair perfectly with emphasizing these points through black comedy.
Part of what creates investment in each individual story is not just uncovering the outcome as the characters scramble to reach their end goal with their loved ones, but the weirdness itself. As the behavior displayed by these people becomes more absurd and unordinary, you find yourself wondering where the tone itself is headed in addition to the plot. Why is this so weird? What is Lanthimos’ endgame? It’s hilariously absurd in a largely interesting way that keeps you wanting to see where things will land; an entertainingly morbid curiosity. In that regard, Kinds of Kindness’ third and final story is where the director pushes this envelope to the extent where he may lose some in the audience. Lanthimos is a habitual line stepper as the late great Charlie Murphy would put it, and one scene during the story entitled “R.F.M Eats a Sandwich” will challenge the cultural sensitivities that have developed in modern film over the past decade. Some may defer to artistic freedom while others may find it a wholly unnecessary part of the story, similar to the criticism of Poor Things. This reviewer demurs to artistic freedom and expression on that front, but still does harbor some criticism for the third act/story nonetheless. It is at this point in the film where its two hour and forty-four minute runtime begins to be felt, mostly because the third story isn’t as intriguing as its two predecessors. This story is perhaps the most emotional of the three, and where Stone does her best acting, due to the aforementioned intensity of its more controversial elements, but it’s slow to get started and bogs down the film a bit.
Kinds of Kindness has a stacked cast and all do well in their numerous roles with each story, led by Plemons and Stone who serve as the leads. Plemons shines most in the initial tale “The Death of R.F.D.” with Stone shining most in the final story. These performances and their characters’ arcs allow both actors to display their full range within the confines of Lanthimos’ eccentricities offering both his trademark humor when needed, but also emotionality that fits each story and the psyche of the character in the moment. Kinds of Kindness continues the hot streak from Yorgos Lanthimos and if you’re a fan of his previous work, you won’t be disappointed here. The same can be said of the film’s stars with Plemons, Stone, Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, and Mamoudou Athie all performing well. It can be dark at times but is consistently funny while exploring interesting themes. It’s what you expect from a Lanthimos film, for better or worse, depending on your taste.
Image: Searchlight Pictures
