Review: “Kinds of Kindness”

Yorgos Lanthimos latest creation, “Kinds of Kindness,” is an anthology described as a “triptych fable,” which follows characters in three unique stories where each experiences different forms of kindness.  Efthimis Filippou, who co-wrote “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” “The Lobster,” and “Dogtooth,” once again teams up with Yorgos to pen this surreal journey.  Each segment is linked only by thematic elements, and one enigmatic character.

The Death of R.M.F.

Robert (Jesse Plemons) and Vivian (Margaret Qualley) live a comfortable life.  They have a nice car, a house, and an extensive sports memorabilia collection.  All are gifts from Robert’s employer, Raymond (Willem Dafoe).  But are all these gifts given out of kindness?  How does one react to excessive benevolence, especially if some form of repayment is expected?  Is it possible to wield kindness as a lethal weapon?

R.M.F. is Flying

Neil (Mamoudou Athie) is worried his co-worker and best friend Daniel (Jesse Plemons) might be losing a grip on reality.  Daniel’s marine biologist wife, Liz (Emma Stone), disappeared during a storm at sea. Neil and his wife Martha (Margaret Qualley) were very close to the couple and are doing their best to assure Daniel that everything will be okay.  Empathy for their friend compels them to be perhaps too kind to him, indulging his whims and entertaining insane conversations.  Where is the line between kindness and enabling unhealthy behaviors? How far would you go to make someone you love happy?

R.M.F Eats a Sandwich

Emily (Emma Stone) and Andrew (Jesse Plemons) are devout followers of a cult searching for a prophesied savior.  Andrew appears to be an established member, but Emily only recently joined after abandoning her husband and daughter.  The cult focuses on keeping the water in our bodies free from contamination, and is run by red-speedo-sporting Omi (Willem Dafoe) and his partner Aka (Hong Chau).  What situations would you agree to or place yourself in, to demonstrate your love for another?

 

Each of these three experiences revels in Yorgos‘s apparent cynical view of kindness.  Nearly every act of “kindness” lands our characters in a dark place, regardless if the act was motivated by malice or love.  Such a nihilistic view is made palatable (delicious?) by the pitch black humor that permeates the movie.   Even the perfect, often minimalist soundtrack is a source of humor.  While the stories each lightly build to a more surreal world, we maintain a familiarity with real people, actions, and outcomes that many of us have experienced in life.  When presented with this horror of bad choices, often stemming from good intentions or desperation, Yorgos implores us to laugh rather than cry.

Movies of this caliber are  impossible with an extremely talented team.  Willem Dafoe, Emma Stone, and Jesse Plemons take center stage, competing to see who can chew more scenery.  Each delivers at a minimum what we come to expect from these exceptional performers, but Stone and Plemons are the standouts.  Their characters between each story are truly unique creations.  It’s fascinating to watch the changes in Plemons‘s body language alone.  We learn so much from each of his characters by just his facial expressions and movement through a scene.

At nearly three hours long, “Kinds of Kindness” is perhaps more than a little self-indulgent and could have benefited by a little trimming.  Thankfully, the stories and the potential interpretation of what they each mean is absolutely enthralling.  This is a movie that encourages the audience to engage with the narratives to fully appreciate them.  Immediately after the screening ended, I knew I appreciated the movie, but wasn’t sure how much I enjoyed it.  Since then, not a day has passed that I haven’t thought about elements of this movie.  It burrows into your brain and begs to be dissected.