The guy who made the new film “kinds of Kindness” is kind of a good director.
Obviously that’s not true, as Yorgos Lanthimos is a great director and once again shows off his abilities to make a bizarre, amusing and insightful picture. His latest film is an anthology with three stories full of dark comedy and absurd moments.
Each story features the same set of actors, but they’re all standalone tales and the cast play different characters. That cast includes Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Hong Chau, and more.
Lanthimos is an out-there director, and if “Poor Things,” wasn’t enough of an example, “Kinds of Kindness” certainly will be. Like with “Poor Things,” though, he shows that weirdness is not a problem in his hands, as he’s managed to craft another completely engrossing picture that plays outside of norms.
The three stories are engaging, well-paced, perfectly self-contained shorts, each with their own comical scenario. What makes them all work is how each situation is exaggerated and odd, but they’re all played completely straight and have elements of truth. It’s a balance that Lanthimos really has a gift for striking.
The result is a film with plenty of effective dark humor, while also succeeding with its more serious moments. The implications of the actions by characters in each story have an impact. It’s a picture able to produce multiple laughs while also being one that can disturb and intrigue.
Another strength for the film is the thematic through-line for the whole movie. None of the stories in Lanthimos’ picture, which he co-wrote with Efthimis Filippou, are connected, but they all commonly explore themes of control, relationships and love. The movie does so in three aspects of one’s life.
The first story deals with one’s career, the second with a romantic relationship and the third with a community. It shows how control can exist in all three, as well as how people can be desperate to impress others to fit in, prove their worth, express their love and how that can be taken advantage of.
The acting is exceptional across the board, too. Plemons especially has knack for playing unsettling characters in dramas, as seen in “Civil War” and “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” and he proves it again here with performances in each role that are a perfect fit for what Lanthimos is going for.
Stone, Chau and Dafoe also flex their acting muscles that have earned them recognition from the Academy over the years. Each performer gets the most out of the three characters they all play, ensuring that the people they portray in the trio of stories have plenty of personality and fit the overall vibe.
The film also looks really sharp. Lanthimos again partnered with cinematographer Robbie Ryan, and the filmmakers combine their skills for a great looking flick. There’s a really effective use of tracking shots and pans enhancing the action on screen. The movie also has an overall visual identity that feels dreamlike, adding to its surreal atmosphere.
“Kinds of Kindness” has a runtime of about two hours and 45 minutes and in the final story, it starts to become noticeable just how long it is. The film also has a few bits that don’t quite connect as well as one would hope.
However, this is still a top tier film. It’s a captivating, thought-provoking flick that entertains with humor, and like other pictures by the director, manages to purposefully incorporate subjects such as sex and morbid curiosity to push boundaries. 4.75 out of 5.
Matthew Liedke on Film 