Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the most interesting directors working today. His films take place in a reality adjacent to our own, with elements of magical realism that are just taken for granted. For example, one of my favorite Lanthimos films, The Lobster, takes place in a world in which being single is illegal, so divorcees and widows are sent to a hotel where they have 45 days to find a mate, or they are transformed into an animal of their choosing. The title refers to the main character's preferred animal, if he fails to find a mate. How is this process done? It's never explained or shown. Why is it illegal to be single? It's never explained. And this is what makes Lanthimos's films so unique--he creates realities that are absurd and he doesn't hand-hold the viewer.
This is also what makes the director so "icky" to a lot of viewers. His films are often mean-spirited and grotesque. Last year, his movie Poor Things was released and I found it to be the most positive and humane of his films. Notably, he was adapting a novel. When Lanthimos writes his own films, they are much meaner and crueler.
His latest, Kinds of Kindness, has that signature Lanthimos cruelty, coldness, and pitch-black sense of humor. The film is an anthology. Clocking in at a hefty 285 minutes, Kinds of Kindness is actually three shorter films, all with the same cast (playing different characters in each short film). The themes that run throughout each of the short films include power and control, abusive relationships, and the fear of being abandoned.
The first of the three is titled "The Death of R.M.F.". In it, Jesse Plemmons plays Robert, a man who lives a comfortable lifestyle which is fully financed and controlled by a man named Raymond (Willem Dafoe). Raymond tells Robert when to wake up, what to wear, what to eat at each meal, whether or not Robert can fuck his own wife (a wife hand-picked for him by Raymond), and which books to read (Anna Karenina). In exchange, Robert lives in a gorgeous house and wants for nothing. Is this a BDSM relationship? Well...it's too weird for that. But it's definitely a relationship. When Raymond eventually asks Robert to do something that he cannot agree to, the relationship falls apart and Robert is left to his own devices after years of having his every action guided by this god-like figure.
In the second film, titled "R.M.F. Goes Flying", Plemmons plays Daniel, a man whose wife goes missing at sea. When his wife (played by Emma Stone) is rescued, Daniel becomes convinced that she is an imposter and that his real wife is still out there, somewhere.
Finally, in the last film, "R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich", Emma Stone is the main character. She plays Emily, a woman who is part of a cult (led by Willem Dafoe) that is obsessed with purity of fluids and also with finding a woman who can bring the dead back to life. Emily and Andrew (Jesse Plemmons) are sent on a mission by the cult to find this woman.
Kinds of Kindness has been described as "off-putting" and "alienating". Grotesque and shocking things occur in each segment. But as I like grotesque and shocking things, the movie was extremely up my alley. It reminded me of a book of short stories titled You Know You Want This by Kristen Roupenian (who gained fame with her short story "Cat Person", featured in The New Yorker). Those short stories are all about power, control, violence, dominance, and submission. Likewise, Kinds of Kindness has a dark, kinky feeling about it--but not in a sexy way at all. More like in a "how does a person end up in this situation??" way. It's also a really funny movie. I laughed quite a bit throughout.
The acting is great, particularly Jesse Plemmons who is a pleasure to watch in every movie he's in. He reminds me quite a bit of the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman, both in looks (strawberry blonde hair and heavier frame), but also in his ability to steal any movie he's in, even if just for 5 minutes. Another standout is Margaret Qualley, who also wows in everything I've seen her in and is no stranger to fucked-up, kinky movies. The main cast also includes Dafoe, Stone, Hong Chau, Mamoudou Athie, and Joe Alwyn. All of them bring their A-game to each of their parts in each short film, no matter how big or small those parts are.
I recommend Kinds of Kindness to folks who like dark, fucked-up, bizarre movies. Be warned that if you have a trigger, it's probably represented in here somewhere (I'll make a special mention that there is a scene of sexual assault in the third short film). If you like bizarre movies but this one sounds like a bit much, I recommend checking out Poor Things which is as strange and dreamlike as Lanthimos's other films, but with a much more positive and hopeful message.
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