Kinds of Kindness

Few are bold enough, or capable enough, to excel in making the kind of film that is genuinely weird but still manages to have widespread appeal. Yorgos Lanthimos is one of those filmmakers. He continues his reign as the master of the twisted fable with his new movie Kinds of Kindness. 

This trio of Ovidian-like fables puts various characters in scenarios in which their social interactions are viewed through an absurdist lens. Jesse Plemons, Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Mamoudou Athie, Joe Alwyn and Yorgos Stefanakos (who plays the title RMF, a perpetually tragic figure) all play different characters in each story.

In the first story, a man, whose everyday life is controlled by his boss, tries to break free but is unable to come to terms with the fact that his new found freedom also means losing social acceptance. The second story is an interesting take on an old classic movie trope—wife lost at sea returns and causes chaos for her husband (i.e. My Favorite Wife and Move Over, Darling). The third story follows a cult member who is looking for an oracle-type who has a natural ability to revive the dead. Each of the three stories examines social themes like authority, power, familial sacrifice, purity/sexuality, etc. Overall, the film is a study of the absurdity of social interactions especially when they’re stripped of social norms or logic.

Kinds of Kindness was co-written by Lanthimos and his frequent collaborator Efthimis Filippou who also worked on Dogtooth, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. This film feels very much in the Greco-Roman tradition of storytelling. I couldn’t help but think of Ovid’s The Metamorphoses.

Lanthimos’ Poor Things felt very much like a follow up to Dogtooth—both explore the danger of carnal knowledge matched with a  mind deprived of worldly knowledge. Kinds of Kindness feels like a follow-up to The Killing of a Sacred Deer— an unrelenting fable about revenge. Both have the same brutality and absurdity that truly shines and makes the audience feel rewarded for their discomfort. Kinds of Kindness has much more humor however and while some won’t want to return to The Killing of a Sacred Deer, they will want to rewatch Kinds of Kindness.

In addition to the classic movie trope of the wife lost at sea, I found connections to Ingmar Bergman’s films (pregnancy loss and abortion) and Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness (absurdity and social commentary in three parts).

Kinds of Kindness had a lot to offer. Close up shots in which parts of the body obscured make for some stunning imagery. Disruptive sound is used to great effect including the off-key playing of a piano, often times just the banging of one single key, or the use of a cell phone ringing followed by static as used in the second story. In the last of the three stories, an editing technique is used that cuts away to another shot before the audience feels ready to move on to a new visual. Plemons, Stone, Qualley, Chau, Dafoe, Athie make for a solid cast and I hope they’ll all continue to collaborate with Lanthimos. I just hope that Hunter Schafer will be considered for a bigger part in a future film.

The 2 hour and 45 minute time frame might be a drag for some. While watching it in a theater is ideal, the movie’s episodic style can make for three enjoyable movies at around an hour each.

Kinds of Kindness is delightfully twisted. A must-see for lovers of the absurd.