I watch Yorgos Lanthimos’ most recent film, Kinds of Kindness like a week ago and I am still in the process of processing it, bit undecided on what to think about it. It is a crazy ride from the beginning to the end with three interrelated plots that made me both curious and got me lost for certain time during the movie. Lanthimos, who is famous for his unconventional approach to film making has come up with a real masterpiece this time depending on who you ask because this is a movie that really have mix opinions on the internet and friend of mine who loves movies as much as I do says he hate it when I'm more in the camp of its an ok ish movie, its a movie that is as strange as it is stimulating. It features Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons and Willem Dafoe in lead roles and all the three actors have done a great job of playing different characters in the film. I was watching the movie for close to three hours straight and there were moments when I was completely into it while there were moments that made me scratch my head, its not a movie I would recommend because I know it is not a movie that can be watched by most people because they wont like it that is for sure. It is peculiar, it is twisted and it is certainly not your average mainstream movie.
The first story is about Robert, played by Jesse Plemons, who is a fkn human puppet of his boss Raymond, Willem Dafoe, this part of the movie is probably the strongest, it has this dark corporate satire theme and it’s showing people who will do everything to please their superiors, Plemons is great in this role we have seen him do this same type of characters on others movies, you can see how his character is slowly losing his mind and being manipulated by his boss and Dafoe is great as the manipulative boss, he is so Green Goblin on this movie.
R.M.F. is Flying
The second story is where things get a bit more strange, Plemons plays a cop named Daniel who’s wife Liz (Emma Stone) has gone missing at sea and then returns but Daniel is sure that this woman is not his wife and he starts to push her to do things she supposedly used to dislike and do more and more violent things to prove her love, this part of the movie is rather disturbing because you are never sure whether Daniel is right about his wife being an imposter or he is just going mad.
R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich
The last story is most likely the weirdest one, it’s about this cult with Omi (Dafoe) and Aka (Chau) and they are searching for one person who can resurrect the dead, Emily played by Stone is a member of this cult and her mission is to find this person, this segment of the movie is quite dark and perverse with the rules of the cult, such as drinking water that is filled with tears and sexually submitting, very sexual and weird.
The only thing that I like a lot about this movie is the acting, the plot to so much, the idea?! its unique, everyone in the cast is really trying and it is very impressive to see them play multiple roles in one film, not a very usual approach to have by the director and script, and for Jesse Plemons, I think he did well in developing these characters on screen, who are pathetic and at the same time sinister but you will probably still find yourself wanting to sympathize with them while they are doing all these weard things. Emma Stone is also fine, althoug I expected more from her probably because there has been some hype after her last movies; moving from a potential rising star at the company to a possibly bogus wife to a diehard cult member, and she and Plemons have some nice chemistry on screen. Willem Dafoe is just being himself he’s always great at portraying these sorts of creepy, sinister, powerful characters and he really gets into it here whether it’s the sleazy boss or the cult master, the man is always getting your attention whenever he appears on the screen, as for the rest of the cast is also good, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, and Joe Alwyn all give memorable performances in their respective roles but they did not get as much screen time as the main three characters, I guess the movie is already complicated enough playing three stories on one movie so there had to be some cut offs.
The Look and Feel
Visually, this movie is also kind of a mixed bag, it's not as stylized as some of Lanthimos' other films, say Poor Things (2023), which is a bit disappointing I guess that's the type of movie we expecting from him and Emma Stone, but it doesn't have that same extravagance feel that made movies like The Lobster or Poor Things have that visual impact on the audience, there are still some really interesting visual choices like the way the camera panels on uncomfortable moments or the use of wide shots to make characters feel small and isolated, there's this recurring motif of dogs that pops up throughout the movie that's both funny and kind of unsettling, the music in the movie is good and goes with most of the scenes, it is a movie that will generate all kind of emotions from you the question is what type of movies you like because you might hate this one if its not for you, it can be that strong, anxiety inducing quality that really adds to the overall feeling of the whole film.
Trying to figure out what this movie is actually about is kind of a challenge, because it's not really spelling things or making it easy for anyone to understand it and make the connection between stories and characters, but if I had to take a guess I'd say it's exploring ideas about control, power and the lengths people will go to for love or acceptance, for sure it has to do with how society is now days, has to be a deeper meaning than what it looks, in each of the three stories we see characters who are either trying to control others or being controlled themselves, whether it's Robert submitting to his boss's every whim, Daniel trying to control his maybe imposter wife or Emily desperately trying to please the cult leaders, there's this constant push and pull between dominance and submission, there's also a lot about identity and how easily it can be manipulated or lost, we see characters questioning who they are or who others are and it's never really clear what's real and what's not, which I think is kind of the point and might play with your head as you watch the movie, something I do like about this kind of weird movies.
What Worked and What Didn't
Based on the reactions I've seen and my own experience watching the movie, there are definitely things that people liked and didn't like about it, on the positive side the performances are praised all across different actors if we just talking about the acting, especially Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone who both show incredible range in their multiple roles, the dark humor and absurd elements also seem to make sense with fans of Lanthimos previous work and the style of the movie. There are also aspects that didn't work as well for part of the audience, for example a few people I know who watch movie have told me the did not enjoy the movie's length is too long for what it is, at nearly three hours, it can feel like a bit exhausting at times, especially if you're not fully on board with Lanthimos style, some people also found the lack of a clear plot and this is more obvious since the film split it in three parts, and the three stories don't really come together in a traditional way.
The Ending and What It Means
Dont take it word by word but I'm going to give you my understanding of the ending because its already weird enough, the ending of this movie is pretty wild and open to interpretation, in the final act, Emily finally finds Ruth the woman who can supposedly bring people back from the dead, she takes Ruth to a morgue where R.M.F., the mysterious figure who's been popping up throughout the movie is lying dead, Ruth manages to bring R.M.F. back to life, which should be this huge, big kinda triumph moment for Emily but then things go sideways, as Emily is driving Ruth back to the cult she gets into an accident and Ruth dies, so Emily has found the savior she was looking for only to lose her immediately, during the credits, we see the resurrected R.M.F. eating a sandwich, which is where the title of the third segment comes from, it's a weirdly mundane moment after all the craziness the movie goes through.
Over all I would say the ending of the movie try to suggest a cynical view of human actions, consequences of actions driver by desperation, the pursuit of a goal at all costs but only in their own self interest, in short words how things can really screw you up when you are selfish and in a hurry, but again this movie is a bit irrational that I'm not so sure on this one and its my take.
Taking all the above into consideration I would not recommend this movie unless I’m sure that the other person has an interest in this sort of movies, the movie is almost three hours long and that is already a problem for most people and it is not an action movie like LOTR. I am left with a lot of thoughts and feelings, some of which are conflicting Kind of Kindess is undoubtedly a rather peculiar and rather daring film that is not shy of provoking the viewers and making them uncomfortable in their seats while still wanting to know what the fuck link all this stories together, it has extraordinary performances, some of the most shocking moments I have come across in a film in a long time and enough themes to keep one’s mind racing after the film has ended, there were times when I felt like Lanthimos was being weird just to troll everyone who pay to watch this movie, all this is the main reason of my low score, why did it had to be so hard?.
