Kinds of Kindness
“Do you think we can watch just 5 minutes of the video?” - Daniel
In some ways, I wish there was a fourth of the anthology, and in others I wish we just focused on one for the entire run time. I haven’t watched many anthologies, but I think it is safe to say that this isn’t your typical one. If you like the Black Mirror series, I really think you are bound to have a fun time with Kinds of Kindness. It is pretty well known that I am a huge fan of this cast, and they do not disappoint. The star power of Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, and Jesse Plemons is undeniable, and when you combine that with Lanthimos' vision, you get high level cinema. His signature blend of dark humor and unsettling stories shines through, prompting viewers to question the lengths we go to for connection and acceptance. The film unfolds into three stories, each following a different lead but follows the overlying theme. There are laugh out loud moments in all three that sneak into shock, and the fact you never know what is coming next is the true masterpiece of it all.
Now, as stated at the beginning, this is an anthology of three different stories. If I had to order them from my favorite to my least favorite, it would go like this: The third story is what I would say is the best. Emma Stone would be the lead actor on it, and with its interesting cult the story captivated me the most. Next, it goes to the first story. This was championed by Jesse Plemons and William Defoe and gave a great start to the theme that each story will be diving into. The second story takes a more unconventional approach. While having the most laughs, its narrative is the most cryptic and potentially too cryptic. While it might not be as clear-cut as the others, it still contributes to the film's overall exploration of kindness and acceptance. Lanthimos doesn't offer easy answers and always makes you wonder what you just watched. If you're seeking a traditional movie, you won’t find it here. For those willing to embrace the weird, Kinds of Kindness offers a darkly comedic and thought provoking journey.
-J
Yorgos Lanthismos cemented himself as one of my favorite directors with Poor Things, as I have previously been delighted with The Favourite, and The Lobster is one of my favourite movies. So naturally I had high hopes for Kinds of Kindness, but unfortunately, it did not reach the heights of the formerly mentioned. This is probably Yorgos’ most experimental film in the sense that it was actually three separate stories told using the same cast, and certainly experimental in the sense that I think Yorgos’ may get a sick pleasure from getting people to watch some just truly bizarre cinema. The three separate stories aspect makes this hard to review in a sense, as in my opinion, the third story, was far and away better than the first two. I was thoroughly engaged the entire time, but a lot of this movie felt like Yorgos was just being weird to be weird, when normally his movies are weird but it totally makes sense and is plot driven or earned. I did like this movie better than Killing of a Sacred Deer, which was another of Yorgos’ movies that was more on the side of the continuum of weird to be weird, as the third story of this particularly made the watch worth it, whereas I did not feel Killing of a Sacred Deer was necessarily worth watching. Par for the course from Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley and Willem Dafoe acting-wise, no notes there, but this was yet ANOTHER master class from Emma Stone, who shows off her chameleon-ness once again. Running with Jord’s Black Mirror comment, I think this would have done NUMBERS as a 3-part Netflix series, that could have been carried forward with a new cast every season type thing, but something tells me that’s too basic for Yorgos, who loves nothing else but to keep us guessing. Don’t particularly recommend this unless you just absolutely LOVE Yorgos, or are just trying to get weird with it. For what it’s worth, E did fall in between Jord and I here on rating, as she does tend to love the more experimental side of film, per her highly educated film background and there’s plenty of that here.
-Z
