Kinds of Kindness: A Deep Dive into Lanthimos’s Latest Absurdity
Following the triumphant victory of “Poor Things” at last year’s Venice Film Festival, expectations for Yorgos Lanthimos’s new film at Cannes were somewhat subdued. Even the greatest directors rarely produce masterpieces in consecutive years, suggesting a possible return to the familiar territory of dark absurdity.
“Kinds of Kindness” is an intensely malevolent film. However, it doesn’t focus on grand, overarching evil, which is often banal, but rather on petty maliciousness, sarcasm, mockery, and other venomous attacks on the ego. The film’s three segments explore different facets, gradations, and consequences of codependent relationships in all their dysfunctional forms.
Segment Breakdown
- Segment 1: A man (Jesse Plemons) is willing to do anything for his benefactor (Willem Dafoe), showcasing 50 shades of sacrifice in exchange for a single patronizing glance.
Willem Dafoe in a scene from “Kinds of Kindness”
- Segment 2: A husband (again Plemons) suspects that the woman rescued from the wilderness and returned to him is not his wife (Emma Stone), but a similar yet fundamentally alien being.
Emma Stone in a scene from “Kinds of Kindness”
- Segment 3: The most detailed and complex segment involves cult members, twins, Margaret Qualley, dog theft, and healing, all in varying orders and combinations.
Margaret Qualley in a scene from “Kinds of Kindness”
Lanthimos’s Bold Experimentation
As a director who has already proven his artistic significance, Yorgos Lanthimos indulges in a playful subversiveness reminiscent of his early short films. Over a substantial runtime of over three hours, viewers are invited to experience the full spectrum of discomfort. However, this confident provocation possesses both style and charm. Lanthimos reunites with his closest and most fearless collaborators to mock the voluntary submission to others’ whims.
While some scenes and ideas are among the boldest cinematic sketches in Lanthimos’s filmography, revealing these eccentricities would be like divulging the magician’s trick before the performance. Instead of focusing on “what,” it’s more insightful to explore “how.” “Kinds of Kindness” is formally distinct from “The Favourite” and especially “Poor Things,” appearing more concise, compact, and restrained in detail. Yet, despite its visual restraint, the frame’s expressiveness is forged by an underlying sense of unease, primarily driven by disrupted symmetry. As the viewer becomes immersed in this neurosis and attempts to predict what will happen next, bodily disfigurements of varying degrees of gore enter the scene: fingers, heads, and internal organs frequently bid farewell to their owners.
Uneven Segments, Unwavering Vision
As often happens with feature films composed of multiple short stories, the segments feel unequal. The second segment, featuring the missing and returned wife, stands out as a favorite, vividly depicting manipulative practices within relationships. Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons revel in their roles, portraying dysfunctional dynamics that culminate in a striking finale worthy of applause. The first segment is memorable for its mocking tone towards those who embrace the victim role, while the third risks becoming convoluted with layers of irony and somewhat weighed down by its length.
The only potential disappointment in Lanthimos’s new film is the imbalance of this cinematic Frankenstein’s limbs, which occasionally stumbles along its lengthy path. However, it would take truly dire times for critics to complain about Yorgos Lanthimos’s sense of humor and measure. Let’s hope we never witness such a decline.