Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, Hunter Schafer
Jesse Plemons excels in Yorgos Lanthimos’ comedically absurd, but ultimately disjointed, anthological fable of sex and relationships
Ever since I came across Yorgos Lanthimos‘ 2009 feature “Dogtooth”, I have been a huge advocate for the avantgarde Greek filmmaker. Lanthimos’ extreme depiction of quiet suburbia in his native Greece is not for the faint of heart, and it introduced me to his extremely dark and surprisingly comedic approach to absurdist cinema.
Following the success of “Dogtooth”, which received an Academy Award nomination for International Feature in 2010, Lanthimos and frequent screenwriting collaborator Efthimis Filippou broadened their horizons by breaking into the English language movie market with a couple of equally dark and twisted psychological thrillers. Following the releases of “The Lobster” in 2015, and “The Killing of the Sacred Deer” in 2017, Lanthimos had established himself in the Hollywood mainstream, despite his unique off-beat style, often incorporating heavily European, dead-pan humour. Both features have gone on to build up a cult following, with the prior garnering Lanthimos and Filippou Oscar nominations for their highly original script, and the latter serving as a launchpad for a then 25-year-old Barry Keoghan.
Despite minimal box office returns, British production company Film 4 continued their partnership with Lanthimos, and were rewarded in more recent years thanks to his work with acclaimed screenwriter Tony McNamara. Lanthimos stood down from script writing duties on both “The Favourite” and “Poor Things”, with McNamara’s lighter and more accessible story telling resulting in both features becoming huge hits with critics and audiences. The period comedies racked up an impressive 21 Academy Award nominations between them, including Best Actress wins for Olivia Colman and Emma Stone. Stone has since established a strong professional partnership with Lanthimos having worked with the 50-year-old on both his previous films, as well as returning to star in his latest project, the anthological comedy-drama “Kinds of Kindness”.
Having re-teamed with Filippou once more, “Kinds of Kindness” is told as a triptyc fable, exploring social relations and sex, with the core ensemble portraying different characters in each stand alone story. The three distinct stories are loosely connected by one recurring character, known only by the initials R.M.F. (Yorgos Stefanakos), who makes a minor appearance in each chapter.
The first story, entitled “The Death R.M.F.”, follows Robert (Jesse Plemons), a seemingly happy individual whose life is dictated by his domineering boss and lover Raymond (Willem Dafoe). Raymond controls every aspect of Robert’s life, including; his sex life, relationships, meals, clothing and house. When Robert refuses Raymond’s instruction to kill a submissive R.M.F. in a car crash, his life slowly begins to fall apart as his wife Sarah (Hong Chau) abruptly leaves him, resulting in Robert desperately fighting to regain Raymond’s affection.
The second segment, “R.M.F. is Flying” focuses on mourning police officer Daniel (Jesse Plemons), who has recently lost his wife Liz (Emma Stone), a marine biologist who has gone missing at sea. A grief stricken Daniel is shocked when Liz miraculously returns unharmed from her disastrous expedition, but things about her seem strange; her interests have changed drastically and her shoes no longer fit. After expressing his suspicions to those close to him, including friends Neil (Mamoudou Athie) and Martha (Margaret Qualley), as well as Liz’s father George (Willem Dafoe), Daniel is met with ridicule due to his extreme paranoia.
The final chapter, “R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich” follows sex cult member Emily (Emma Stone), who along with her fellow cultist Andrew (Jesse Plemons), is looking for a woman with the ability to reanimate the dead. Under strict instructions from leaders Omi (Willem Dafoe) and Aka (Hong Chau), no member is to have sexual relations with anyone outside of the cult, otherwise their bodies will become “contaminated”, resulting in permanent expulsion.
While I really enjoyed Lanthimos’ collaborations with McNamara on both “The Favourite” and “Poor Things”, I have always had a greater fondness for his earlier features, working alongside Filippou. They may not be for everyone, with the often cynical and obscene thematic elements likely to turn people off, but the likes of “Dogtooth” and “The Lobster” are what I immediately associate with the visionary director. However, going into “Kinds of Kindness” I was highly sceptical, despite Lanthimos showcasing his penmanship alongside Filippou once again. My main reservation going into “Kinds of Kindness” was its anthological premise. While there have been some semi-successful anthology films in the past such as Stephen King‘s “Creepshow” and The Coen Brothers‘ “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”, it is a largely problematic format due to the multiple segments often leaving the film feeling shallow and disjointed. Unfortunately my scepticism was justified as this latest effort, despite enjoying each story individually, left me feeling very little emotionally come the third and final end credit sequence.
Each chapter boasts great originality and performances from the returning ensemble, with Plemons in particular standing out amongst the talented cast of Hollywood A-listers. Plemons walked away with the Best Actor award at Cannes in May, and the 36-year-old shines in his multiple distinct roles. He has come along away from his portrayal of soft-spoken, neo-Nazi Todd in the final season of “Breaking Bad” just over a decade ago, and has well established himself as one of the most sought after talents in the industry.
Lanthimos and Filippou undoubtedly have returned with their most absurd and obscene release to date, so those not familiar or fans of their previous efforts will most likely want to give “Kinds of Kindness” a miss. It feels at times, having been relatively restrained narratively with his past two features, Lanthimos has held nothing back here, with its slow-pacing and lengthy runtime being a bi-product of him possibly self indulging a little too much. Those who, like me, have always been fans of Lanthimos’ unorthodox storytelling, will find something to enjoy due to its ingenuity and outlandish humour but not enough to justify its almost three-hour runtime. There are three genuine great stories to be told in “Kinds of Kindness”, and I am sure everyone will have their favourite, but its problems lie with its structure not allowing the audience to fully invest in characters that will be abruptly forgotten and replaced in less than an hour.
Despite me finding his latest release to be the weakest in what is an otherwise impressive back catalogue, I will always remain excited for anything Lanthimos produces. His next project “Bugonia”, is scheduled for release in 2025 and sees Lanthimos re-team with Stone and Plemons once again for his English language remake of Jang Joon-hwan‘s 2003 science fiction comedy “Save the Green Planet!” – and I for one cannot wait.
Kinds of Kindness is now showing in select UK Cinemas
Dan Loves Film 
Pass. Thanks for saving me $. If you felt this way, pretty sure I’d hate it.
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Definitely not for everyone
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Great reviews as always. It’s a shame that this movie didn’t quite work for you. I was actually looking forward to watching this movie. Yorgos Lanthimos is a fantastic filmmaker that has proven that he has ability to make engaging movies. I absolutely adored his previous film “Poor Things”. Emma Stone was also in that movie and extraordinary in an Oscar-winning performance. It seems as if “Kinds of Kindness” isn’t quite on the same level as that film. That being said, I’m still keen to watch it even if it isn’t so good.
Here’s my thoughts on “Poor Things”:
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