Kinds of Kindness
review Bobby Blakey
Director Yorgos Lanthimos always brings a unique vision to his films such as Killing of the Sacred Deer, my personal favorite The Lobster and more recently Poor Things. Now he is reteaming with his Poor Things star Emma Stone for his latest film Kinds of Kindness co-starring Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Hunter Schafer. Could his latest experience continue to deliver or will it be to strange and fractured to deliver?
Kinds of Kindness follows a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader.
I love the films by Lanthimos, but they are an acquired taste that won’t work for everyone. He always brings something that makes you think or confuses so that you are forced to really delve into what he is trying to say and how it makes you feel. This latest film is no different, but this time broken up into multiple stories in a film that continues his unique storytelling style and another well executed experience.
I refer to it as an experience because that is just what his films are. The are weird, original and even sometimes uncomfortable in their existence and always brilliant in my opinion. This one was no different with some of the tales stronger than others, but each of them intriguing me to where it is going. Every story features the same cast taking on different roles with only one character reoccurring played by Yorgos Stefanakos known only as R.M.F
complete with an after-credit scene with him. All of them bring their A game and go all in physically and emotionally to deliver compelling and strange tales.
Further focusing on each of these tales and there is more there than just the strange and insane. Each of them focuses on elements like trust, life, death, etc. that we all go through as human beings in day-to-day life. Here they are infused with sometimes over the top and insanity to get the point across, but they just work in all their strange perfection. As I mentioned, this film will not work for most as a whole but hope that people give it a chance and may find that connection with at least one of the tales offered here and see the originality and brilliance of Lanthimos’ vision.
In addition to the film this release offers up bonus content including deleted scenes and a featurette taking audiences behind bringing Yorgos latest film to life. Grab your copy when Kinds of Kindness available now on digital and then on Blu-ray and DVD on October 8th from Searchlight Pictures.