Kinds of Kindness
The seemingly mundane settings – offices, roads, and suburban homes, become backdrops for the bizarre and the brutal, showcasing Lanthimos' signature oddball humour and violence.
The film opens with Jesse Plemons as Robert, a corporate lackey controlled by his all-knowing boss, Raymond (Willem Dafoe). When Robert fails to crash his car as commanded, his life spirals into chaos. This first segment, "The Death of R.M.F.," is the strongest, highlighting Plemons' compelling performance and setting the stage for the hilarious dysfunction to follow. Stone's character Rita enters as Robert's salvation, leading to a darkly comedic and twisted narrative.
In the second chapter, Stone takes centre stage as Liz, a marine biologist and wife of Plemons' Daniel, who suspects she's a doppelgänger after her return from a desert island. This segment, although the weakest, still shines with exceptional performances and surreal humour. Notably, a shocking, explicit scene involving Liz and Daniel's friends (played by Margaret Qualley and Mamoudou Athie) stands out for its cheeky dark comedy.
The final segment features Dafoe as a cult leader, Omi, with Plemons and Stone as a couple seeking a woman who can awaken the dead. This concluding part, filled with macabre scenes at a morgue and a devilish sequence involving Stone and a dog, is intense and compelling. Lanthimos reunites with cinematographer Robbie Ryan to craft a challenging world where people treat each other brutally, belied by the film's ironic title. Though not his best and slightly overlong at 165 minutes, "Kinds of Kindness" remains a wild, humane, and highly accomplished film, with Lanthimos' gleefully weird touch intact.
