'Kinds Of Kindness' A Review

Kinds Of Kindness is an absurdist anthology movie about depraved sad people doing depraved sad things.

The cast are all talented but none are able to lock into the tone in a way that makes the film feel particularly watchable or coherent. Over his past several projects writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos has traded in his old ensemble mainstays for new and that trade has not benefited the results, if Colin Farrell and Angeliki Papoulia were in the Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone roles the film would be better. Not that Plemons or Stone are bad but they are miscast, they misunderstand or are unable to translate the tone, they don't have the necessary cunning to deliver. Perhaps this is a result of the film not having the flat affect used to great success in Lanthimos's earlier films. Maybe it's because the script as is feels like its trying too hard. Lanthimos and co-writer Efthimis Filippou trying to reclaim their avant garde bonafides after Lanthimos's back-to-back mainstream successes. And, like Austin Butler before her, its astonishing that Margaret Qualley's star has risen so far so fast. Its not that she lacks talent but her current ubiquitousness is baffling and her limited experience makes her presence here a waste. Equally frustrating is the under use of Hong Chau and Mamoudou Athie who are the only two that are able to convey anything like recognizable humanity.

What is this film even about? It appears nothing. The film has visual style and an infectious soundtrack but it has no meat, no life to it, so the excellent production design is mostly for naught. The sex stuff is gratuitous and seemingly without purpose, the violence boring and unaffecting as there is no discernable motivation behind literally anything. The Lobster works because the world it builds is rich and the actors within it carve out idiosyncratic yet emotionally truthful characters. The same is true of The Killing Of A Sacred Deer even if it is more brutal, it has ambition and it is confident in what it is. That balance is what is lacking here. Regardless of the trappings, the subculture, the bizarreness there is no truth. And the fault is both in the script and with the performances both of which fall into Lanthimos's lap. He seems to be falling prey, as many writer/directors do, to success. The Favourite is a good movie but it was the first of his film's that was digestible to a wider audience. And Poor Things, despite its critical acclaim, was an absolute mess. One hopes he can right the ship.

Inert.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to VOD.

Don't See It.