Susan Granger’s review of “Kinds of Kindness” (Searchlight Pictures)
Call me a philistine but I wouldn’t wish having to watch Yorgos Lanthimos’ dreadful 165-minute “Kinds of Kindness” dirge on my worst enemy!
After intriguing audiences with “Poor Things” (2023) and “The Favorite” (2018), which were – at least – comprehensible, Greek ‘auteur’ Lanthimos reunites with his co-screenwriter Efthimis Filippou to create a trilogy of bizarre, almost incoherent cinematic ‘essays’ exploring themes of dominance/control, faith and love.
The titles of each disturbing segment refer to R.M.F. – the initials by which a perpetually mysterious man (Yorgos Stefanakos) is known.
In “The Death of R.M.F,” placid, obedient Robert (Jesse Plemons) is at the beck-and-call of his demanding, wealthy boss (Willem Dafoe), who not only supports Robert and his wife Sarah (Hong Chau) but also sends them uniquely extravagant sports memorabilia gifts – like John McEnroe’s smashed tennis racquet. But there’s a malevolent undertone that surfaces when Robert rebels in desperation.
In the next episode, maritime biologist Liz (Emma Stone) is missing on an research expedition, causing her cop husband Daniel (Plemons) to sink into depression. When his partner Neil (Mamoudou Athie) and wife Martha (Margaret Qualley) invite him to dinner, distraught Daniel begs them to watch a kinky, sexually explicit video. Then things go from bad to worse when ‘Liz’ comes back.
Finally in “R.E.M. Eats a Sandwich,” Emily (Stone) joins a creepy, purity-obsessed sex cult led by Omi (Dafoe) and Aka (Chau). She’s partnered with Andrew (Plemons) on a quest to find/identify a potential spiritual leader with the power to reanimate the dead. It’s all quite surreal.
Kinder critics have called Lanthimos ‘enigmatic’; to me, he’s simply deranged – except to those devoted film buffs who admire his stylistic tics, robotic dialogue, dark humor and deadpan acting direction, previously demonstrated in “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” in which a confrontational character (Barry Keoghan) convinces a doctor (Colin Farrell) to kill one of his family members..
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Kinds of Kindness” is a tediously twisted triptych 2, playing in theaters….I urge you not to waste your time or money!
