Kinds of Kindness
Yorgos Lanthimos is back to his old tricks, and we fellow sickos are all the better for it.
Following the detours of Poor Things and The Favourite — his version of prestige pictures that nevertheless rank among some of the weirdest mainstream films of the past seven years — the Greek writer/director reunites with longtime co-writer Efthimis Filippou and resumes his commitment to darkly funny and disturbing social satires with Kinds of Kindness.
Far more in line with past Lanthimos/Filippou collaborations The Lobster, Dogtooth, Alps, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, this collection of three 50-ish-minute tales presents hyperbolized examinations of human behavior that, while not always expressing clear points, consistently elicits strong reactions.
Enacting these New Orleans-set tales is the ensemble of Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, and Mamoudou Athie, each of whom excel at inhabiting different roles in each chapter. In tandem with his go-to cinematographer Robbie Ryan, Lanthimos frames his actors with crisp confidence, often capturing them from a low angle to augment the absurdity of the situation at hand.
Opening salvo "The Death of R.M.F” successfully lampoons the lengths people will go to obtain and keep status, as well as the bizarre games of playing god in which the extremely wealthy may or may not partake. The deadpan manner with which Plemons’ Robert responds to the controlling ways of his boss Raymond (Dafoe) yields steady awkward chuckles, while brief turns by Stone and Qualley get amusing rises out of the comically adept Plemons.
The strong introduction then gives way to the ambiguous, borderline inscrutable "R.M.F. is Flying,” about police officer Daniel (Plemons) coping with the surprise return of his presumed dead marine biologist wife Liz (Stone). While the increasingly dark turns that the story takes requires an iron stomach, Plemons’ mastery of subtle, oddball actions is a joy to behold and one particular cut to a TV set produces one of the year’s biggest film laughs thus far.
Following that well-made head-scratcher is "R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich,” in which Plemons’ Andrew and Stone’s Emily serve as a kind of Mulder and Scully for a purity-obsessed cult led by Omi (Dafoe), hitting the road in search of a prophesied miracle-worker woman. Emily’s seemingly random stunt driving in a purple Dodge Charger brings levity to some of the chapter’s more troubling elements, as do glimpses of life at the gated compound, which also underscore the members’ unwavering dedication.
Additional twisted entertainment arises from various other preposterous actions that Lanthimos’ characters take, and though his past collaborators all deliver, this is Plemons’ show. Along with his harrowing unbilled appearance in Civil War, the former Friday Night Lights player is putting together a strong case for star of the year, and Kinds of Kindness could very well prove his gateway to becoming one of the truly great actors of our time.
Grade: A-minus. Rated R. Now playing at Carolina Cinemark and Grail Moviehouse.
(Photo: Searchlight Pictures)
