Renowned Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos returned to Cannes in 2022 with his unnerving film Kinds of Kindness. Known for pushing boundaries with films like Dogtooth and The Lobster, Lanthimos reunited with frequent collaborator Emma Stone and screenwriter Efthimis Filippou for this surreal triptych. Set in New Orleans, the film features an ensemble cast including Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, and Margaret Qualley, who portray different characters across three unsettling tales.
Weaving between stories of longing and desperation, Kinds of Kindness comments on humanity’s capacity for both cruelty and connection. Each vignette finds its characters pursuing intimacy and purpose yet acting in disturbing ways as their mental states unravel.
A subtle thread of recurring imagery hints that these souls may be interconnected. Stone delivers another chilling performance, while Plemons stands out with his unnerving intensity across his dual leading roles. Visually striking with an unsettling score, the film draws us into its nightmarish version of reality before leaving us to unravel the mystery of its true meaning.
Through its disturbing yet insightful portraits, Lanthimos’ film quietly contemplates what drives people to their darkest extremes and how far we will go for love and fulfillment. Anchored by extraordinary performances, Kinds of Kindness presents a surreal meditation on human nature that challenges as much as it entertains.
Three Tales Within Kinds of Kindness
Yorgos Lanthimos crafts an unnerving set of stories in his film, Kinds of Kindness. While each tale stands alone, motifs and characters reappear, keeping us guessing about what really connects them.
The first centers on Robert, controlled completely by his domineering boss, Raymond. We will soon see Robert shaken from this dependency. Meanwhile, we’re introduced to figures like police officer Daniel and the mysterious RMF, who will take on new roles later.
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Our focus shifts when Daniel’s wife, Liz, goes missing at sea. Her return unsettles Daniel, leaving him distrustful of any change in her. Their dynamic reveals the madness stemming from losing control in a relationship. Darker still is when Daniel tests how far Liz will go to prove herself.
The finale explores cult life through Emily, recruited to find a prophesied savior. She reconnects with her family, though this risks her standing. Pursuing the mission with Andrew also strains their bond. Things become truly disturbing when other desires interfere with the cult’s aims.
Throughout, Lanthimos peppers in glimpses of RMF, hinting at his fate as it weaves through each story. Recurring locales, foods, and dreams likewise draw the tales together, even when characters change. Most unsettling is seeing the same unkind acts surface again and again as people grasp for purpose.
By shuffling characters between unpredictable scenarios, Lanthimos keeps viewers unmoored and probing for connections. Constantly varied roles also challenge our perceptions of these individuals. The fragmented structure mirrors the inner turmoil of his characters; desire and betrayal are their only constants. In this lyrical, unsettling film, answers remain as elusive as the mystery of RMF himself.
Unhinged Atmosphere: Kinds of Kindness’ Unsettling Visual Style
Director Yorgos Lanthimos strips things back for Kinds of Kindness, crafting an anxious milieu through spare location work in New Orleans and Robbie Ryan’s unflinching camera. Gone are the period costumes and ornate sets of films like The Favourite, replaced by soulless modern environments that unsettle in their very normalcy. Empty office parks, sterile hospitals, and unremarkable suburban homes become uncanny backdrops for unexplainable events, the characters’ anxiety seeping into the bland surroundings.
Steadfast cinematographer Ryan films these places with an unblinking, wide-angle lens that maintains physical and emotional distance between viewers and the onscreen chaos. Characters drift through wide, open spaces like lost souls, the static framing trapping them with no possibility of escape.
In intimate scenes, things only intensify, as uncomfortable pauses and awkward angles emphasize how alone the characters truly are. Throughout it all, a chilled, descending piano line in the score by Jermaine Fendrick mirrors the unremitting dread, refusing any hope of warmth or comfort.
Other choices evoke disquieting surrealism, from disjointed black-and-white visions to scenes that dissolve in a jarring cut, never allowing full comprehension. Brief respites come through darkly comedic moments, yet the unnerving tone quickly reasserts itself.
Through its chilling visual motifs and directorial precision that refuses catharsis, Kinds of Kindness immerses audiences in the same inscrutable worldview as its troubled characters, leaving lingering unease long after the end credits roll. In stripping conventions down to their barest form, Lanthimos crafts one of his most unsettling atmospheric experiences yet.
Plemons Takes Command
Jesse Plemons gives not one but three transfixing lead performances in Kinds of Kindness. In the opening story, the actor gracefully captures Robert’s meek timidity under the thumb of his unsettling boss, Raymond. With subtle changes in body language and a downcast glance, Plemons conveys how thoroughly controlled Robert feels. After he stands up to Raymond, the role requires Plemons to show the character coming unglued, brilliantly balancing the comedy and tragedy of watching Robert spin out of control.
In the next story, Plemons is utterly convincing as Daniel, a grieving cop struggling with mental instability following his wife Liz’s strange return. He navigates the part’s tricky tightrope between empathy and discomfort. Just when it seems Daniel has tipped too far, Plemons locates a speck of humanity that keeps the character grounded. It’s a mesmerizing display of volatile and vulnerable emotion.
Plemons again commands attention as desperate cult member Andrew. Though he has less dialogue here, the actor uses expressive eyes and guarded body language to hint at the torment beneath Andrew’s surface and the reasons for his dedication to the cult’s mission. Across three distinct roles, Plemons brings an exhilarating unpredictability that anchors the film.
Stone and Dafoe are magnetic, too. As Liz, Stone effortlessly toggles between determination, confusion, and terror. Even in his short appearance as Robert’s flinty boss Raymond, Dafoe oozes an unsettling charisma. As cult leaders Omi and Aka, Dafoe imbues the roles with sleazy charm and mystique, while Hong Chau brings icy austerity.
The whole ensemble throws themselves into their shape-shifting roles with gusto, relishing the uncomfortable, bizarre scenarios and interactions. Their fully committed performances ensure we follow each narrative twist, no matter how disturbing, keeping us enthralled by these chaotic characters’ morally fraught journeys.
Twisted Truths, Tangled Lives
In Kinds of Kindness, Yorgos Lanthimos weaves a complex tapestry, examining our deepest desires and darkest impulses. Across three unsettling tales, the film contemplates humanity’s capacity for cruelty in our relentless pursuit of control, connection, and meaning.
The opening story introduces us to Robert, whose controlling boss, Raymond, has him wrapped around his finger. Robert lives to please Raymond in every aspect of life, yet he still questions if this twisted relationship truly fulfills him. When he fails to carry out a disturbing task, the fallout throws his world into chaos. Through this uncomfortable dynamic, Lanthimos questions how far we’ll go to avoid feeling adrift.
In the second act, policeman Daniel struggles with his wife Liz’s return from a harrowing ordeal. His desperation to feel close to her again morphs into disturbing demands as paranoia takes hold. The murky line between love and obsession is twisted beyond recognition. We glimpse the damaged places our need for certainty can lead if left unchecked.
The final segment delves deepest into manipulated minds and murky motives. Emily has joined a cult led by the enigmatic Omi, yet she remains tethered to her past. As myths and mind games intertwine, the true believer grapples with reclaiming her freedom without losing herself entirely. Personal turmoil, cult manipulation, and the human hunger for meaning collide in this chilling climax.
Across three unsettling portraits, Kinds of Kindness shakes us from any sense of comfortable truth. Through creative characters and scenarios, it holds a funhouse mirror to humanity’s capacity for manipulation and control within relationships, exposing our latent darkness while retaining thought-provoking subtlety. Lanthimos masterfully peels back surface layers to scrutinize the complicated interplay between free will, destiny, and our eternal searches for purpose and one another.
Different Shadings With Each Viewing
Yorgos Lanthimos’ film presents more than one way to interpret its twisting narrative. By dividing the story into three loosely connected parts, with characters cycling through different roles in each, Kinds of Kindness leaves some mysteries unsolved.
We’re never quite sure how the sections relate to one another in terms of chronology. Figures like RMF seem to defy straightforward explanation. Is he really the same person each time? By refusing to spell everything out, the movie challenges viewers to piece threads together for ourselves.
Rewatching with attentive eyes will shed new light. Clues scattered early on, like particular items of clothing or cars, take on greater significance as patterns emerge. Subtle connections between moments gain clarity on a second viewing now that we know what’s ahead.
Characters’ behaviors may also reveal hidden depths. Faced with the same scraps of information numerous times, we can analyze motivation and psyche more deeply. Repeated viewings let us turn over every nuanced performance in search of insight into this bizarre world.
Details that seemed irrelevant or confusing at first can snap into the perfect logical place. And enjoyment comes from catching subtle foreshadowing we missed before. Rather than solving all mysteries, Lanthimos seems to want dedicated explorers to keep discovering new layers and interpretations. Through this ambiguity, Kinds of Kindness ensures its unsettling vision will continue rewarding repeat journeys into darker shades.
Kindness and Mystery
Yorgos Lanthimos’ haunting new film, Kinds of Kindness, promises to disturb and intrigue viewers with its unflinching examination of human nature. Across three interconnected but enigmatic stories, Lanthimos explores our universal desires for control, connection, and meaning and how far we drift from morality to attain them.
Masterfully directed and crafted with unsettling flair, Kinds of Kindness embraces the mysterious. Its characters are compelling yet difficult to understand, lost in the blurred realities of their own making. Though touches of dark humor emerge, there is little comfort to be found—only disquieting questions remain. Brilliant performances by Jesse Plemons, Emma Stone, and Willem Dafoe bring to life souls teetering on the alien borders of humanity.
While not an easy watch, there is passion and artistry in Lanthimos’ unflinching vision. He pulls a few punches, showing the unvarnished waters our psyches may sink into. Though he leaves much open to interpretation, his film demands consideration long after.
If you are keen to experience work that challenges and stays with you, I cannot recommend enough stepping into the intrigue and emotional intensity of Kinds of Kindness for yourself. Its mysterious unfolding promises to both disturb and linger in the mind.
The Review
Kinds of Kindness
Yorgos Lanthimos' Kinds of Kindness is a deeply unnerving cinema experience that has undoubtedly cemented his status as one of the most compelling avant-garde filmmakers working today. Though not an easy or accessible watch, the film undeniably draws viewers into its mysterious world and lingers long after through its unflinching dissection of humanity's darkness. Masterfully crafted and brought to life by tour-de-force performances, Kinds of Kindness demands consideration for its challenging artistry and bleak brilliance.
PROS
- Artistic and unflinching direction from Yorgos Lanthimos
- A deeply unsettling examination of human nature and psychology
- Intriguing interconnected stories and concepts
- Mesmerizing performances from Plemons, Stone, and Dafoe
CONS
- Not an accessible or easy watch due to disturbing content.
- Narratives and characters are not always clear and easy to comprehend.
- May divide audiences depending on tolerance for experimental films.
