‘Kinds of Kindness’ Movie Review: Yorgos Lanthimos Twists The Knife On Human Nature In Dark Comedy Triptych
Photo from Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures
From Jeff Nelson
Kinds of Kindness delivers another addictively twisted world from Yorgos Lanthimos. Fresh off his Poor Things awards contender, he dives into a macabre anthology of tales that exploit human nature and pervert conventional understandings of kindness. It’s suitably unsettling and disturbingly funny in the ways we’ve come to expect from Lanthimos.
Over the course of this triptych fable, R.M.F. (Yorgos Stefanakos) represents the common man amongst big personalities thwarted into unusual circumstances. Each story incorporates most of the same cast, transferring them from one character to the next, connecting them in a web of sex, violence, and greed.
The first story follows a businessman named Robert (Jesse Plemons), who lives according to the increasingly unhinged whims of his demanding boss, Raymond (Willem Dafoe). When Robert refuses to commit to his latest potentially lethal desire, his entire life spirals out of control.
This first segment, “The Death of R.M.F.,” is the most linear and complete narrative of the three. Raymond and his business take full control over Robert’s life, speaking to an employer's hold over its workers to a hilariously exaggerated degree. This position lacks any work-life balance, but a major life shift leaves Robert unsure of how to lead his life without direct orders. This segment could make a feature-length film all its own in this dark comedy rooted within a toxic work environment.
Next is the abstract and ambivalent “R.M.F. is Flying.” Policeman Robert (Plemons) is overjoyed when his wife, Liz (Emma Stone), returns from an expedition after being declared missing. His happiness is short-lived when he suspects she’s an imposter posing as his wife.
Is Robert finally reaching his breaking point, or are his doubts surrounding his wife legitimate? This question circulates throughout this segment, which wanders into peculiar places. It wields one of the biggest laughs in the movie, but it’s the trio’s least compelling narrative. Similar to “The Death of R.M.F.,” the second segment depicts an exceedingly unhealthy relationship, but this time it’s within the confines of an abusive marriage. Lanthimos’ dark comedy remains intact without taking away from the serious nature of the serious themes.
Finally, “R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich” tells the story of cultist Emily (Stone), who travels with her partner (Plemons), to track down a person with an alleged ability to resurrect the dead. The life she left behind and her new family clash in unexpected ways, forcing her to choose between contradicting belief systems before her entire world comes crashing down on her.
The final chapter of this wicked trilogy intermittently holds an uneven tone, but it’s unquestionably captivating. Emily navigates trauma from the past and present in fascinating ways, as she dangerously and comically drifts her car from one location to the next in her search for the chosen one. The ending is perhaps a bit too sudden, fitting into the film’s deadpan humor at the expense of the narrative’s impact.
Plemons won the Best Actor award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival for his tremendous work across the three tales, two of which feature him as the lead. He renders Lanthimos’ dark comedy to perfection, while convincingly carrying the varying dramatic weights of his characters. Stone is equally impressive, proving why her team-up with Lanthimos is one of recent filmmaking’s most exciting director-actor pairings. Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, and Mamoudou Athie fill out this enchanting cast.
Kinds of Kindness is a ferocious mixture of Lanthimos’ abstract early works and the visual prowess of his latest efforts. It weaves laugh-out-loud dark comedy with heavy dramatic themes, exploring humanity’s manipulation of kindness lodged within relationships stuck in toxic cycles. The three tales achieve their goals with varying success in a piece of brazen filmmaking that won’t suit every palate, but I’m glad it exists. It’s the type of bizarre artistry that dares you to laugh at its uncomfortable subject matter, dig deeper into its thematics, and reflect on our society that thrives off manipulated kindness.
Rating: 3.5/5
Kinds of Kindness hits theaters on June 21st, 2024.
