‘Kind of Kindness’ review: A Postmodern Exploration into Power and Control

Writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos returns to his weird roots with the anthological Kind of Kindness. Starring regular collaborators Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, and Joe Alwyn alongside newbies Jesse Plemons, Mamoudou Athie, and Hong Chau, it’s a layered exploration of cults and conspiracies. 

After more commercially accepted The Favourite and Poor Things, Lanthimos bravely rejects commercial endeavors to keep it weird. Kindness is split into three parts, with the same actors playing different characters. One common thread links all three sections: the self-destructive dependency humans have on their personal belief systems. 

Everyone is looking for something that allows them to be manipulated, whether it’s genuine love or something more supernatural. But Lanthimos isn’t too intrigued in offering answers, instead finding dark humor in society’s desire to belong to anything that will accept them.

All three sections are named after a mysterious recurring character named RMF (Yorgos Stefanakos), even if it’s just him eating a sandwich. The first vignette follows Robert (Plemons), whose boss, Raymond (Dafoe), controls every inch of his life, from the books he reads to the lunch he eats. The final straw comes when he is asked to hit a stranger with his car and cause enough injury to be hospitalized, which leads to him meeting Emma Stone’s mysterious woman.

In the second vignette, Daniel (Plemons) is unnerved when his scientist wife, Liz (Stone), returns to his life after going missing on an expedition. He starts to become suspicious when the woman who returns isn’t the same as the woman who left.

In the third and final section. Emily (Stone) and Andrew (Plemons) are part of a cult fixated on the arrival of a prophet. Emily chooses her new cult (led by Dafoe and Chau) over his husband (Joe Alwyn) and daughter. 

Jesse Plemons is an excellent addition to the world of Yorgos Lanthimos. He steals the film as the lead in all three sections. Plemons is an unpredictable presence on-screen, even when playing the nice guy, he has audiences doubting his intentions. There is also a sense that Plemons is self-conscious in his own skin, a trait the director uses to help deliver an uncomfortable performance.

Both he and Stone are transformative in their performances, switching between the three roles with ease. Stone is mesmerizing on screen, her big blue eyes and childish playfulness the perfect match for the director’s dark humor. She uses her natural innocence to add extra layers to her character’s more sinister behavior.

Margaret Qualley and Hong Chau are strong supporting actors, although sometimes Qualley struggled with Lanthimos’ unique style of dialogue. Willem Dafoe’s sometimes out-there style of acting feels like a natural match for Kinds of Kindness. It feels entirely believable that the actor would run a bizarre cult that believes that water is contaminated and that a chosen woman can resurrect the dead. Mamaoudou Athie’s talents are sadly wasted on insignificant roles, while Joe Alwyn is forgettable in his one main role. 

Composer Jerskin Fendrix’s clinking piano is as crucial to the film as the performance. The heavy percussion acts as an alarm for the characters doing something risky. The score is intentionally unsettling, giving Kinds of Kindness an atmosphere more accustomed to horror movies.

The movie looks different from the director’s previous movies. An exploration of post-modernism and post-capitalism, all the sets and costumes are noticeably minimalist and empty. The homes and workplaces are vast and empty yet claustrophobic, all the characters drive unnecessarily large vehicles and meet up in lifeless parking lots and motels. It’s a cynical take on modern life where the exhibition is king.

The first segment is the strongest, showcasing the lack of will found in some individuals. It feels tightly written, well-paced, and like it could go in a range of different directions. The second segment feels more Lovecraftian, playing with the viewers’ beliefs more than the characters’ own faith. The third segment sags and feels a little tired, especially two hours into Kinds of Kindness. 

With a runtime of nearly three hours, Kind of Kindness does start to feel like a marathon. Lathimos’ brand of dry humor begins to wear thin, especially when the stories don’t have the payoff expected by viewers. The post-modern humor is on show throughout, but it’s as black as coal to the point that it starts to feel uncomfortable. 

None of the vignettes get a resolution. The ambiguity of the plots forces audiences to sit with the themes of the movie. Kinds of Kindness wants audiences to look at their own relationship with love, control, and power, holding a mirror up to the modern world. The writing is not here to give you the answers, nor does it believe it should.

Kinds of Kindness wants to get under the audience’s skin. It purposely pushes things too far, using shock value to make its point. While most directors would cut away. Yorgos embraces nudity, sexuality, blood, and other bodily fluids. He wants to make audiences squirm and look away like they are peering into something that should not be seen by the outside world.

It’s an outstanding feat to be one of the most revered directors in the world and to make something as bold as Kinds of Kindness. At no point does it feel like the movie holds back its ideas nor does the actors hold back their performances. Perhaps some aspects of the film push it too far, towing the line between creativity and ludicrousness but the refreshing lack of refinement has to be honored.

Grade: C