‘Kinds of Kindness’ Review: Everybody’s Looking for Something
Yorgos Lanthimos returns with a twisted fable triptych about dominating and being dominated.
What to WatchWhat to WatchSupported byCritic’s Pick‘Kinds of Kindness’ Review: Everybody’s Looking for SomethingYorgos Lanthimos returns with a twisted fable triptych about dominating and being dominated.ByAlissa WilkinsonWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.You could endlessly pick apart “Kinds of Kindness,” but I don’t recommend it. The closest to a précis you’ll get for the film comes at the start, when the strains of the Eurythmics’ banger “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” ring out over the opening titles. The lyrics repeat the discomfiting notion that:Some of them want to use you.Some of them want to get used by you.Some of them want to abuse you.Some of them want to be abused.Well, who am I to disagree?“Kinds of Kindness” is a return to a certain form of form, if you will, for the director Yorgos Lanthimos, fresh off his warmer, cuddlier films “The Favourite” and “Poor Things.” His earlier movies, “Dogtooth,” “Alps,” “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” and “The Lobster” — all four written with Efthimis Filippou, who was his collaborator on “Kinds” — are less accessible, more deranged, less logical, more disturbing. Which is of course why they’re so polarizing. And so beloved.I expect “Kinds of Kindness” to take its place among that latter group, with its vibrantly, defiantly off-putting stance and sidesplittingly sick sense of humor. It’s a triptych that at first seems slight, then gains meaning the longer you hold its three seemingly disconnected short films in juxtaposition and peer through the overlaps. All three share a cast that includes some returning Lanthimos players, like Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Willem Dafoe and Emma Stone, who won her second Oscar earlier this year for “Poor Things.” There are newcomers, too: Hong Chau, Mamoudou Athie and especially Jesse Plemons, who won the best actor prize at Cannes for his performance.Plemons is the main character for most of the film. In the first segment, he plays a man whose every move is dictated by his boss (Dafoe), until it isn’t. In the second, Plemons is a cop whose researcher wife (Stone) goes missing on a desert island; when she returns, he’s convinced she’s not actually his wife. And in the third, Plemons and Stone play members of a strange cult (led by Dafoe and Chau) who are desperately seeking a young woman who will become its spiritual leader.It’s all presented with the eerie air of a very dark comedy, the sort where sudden savagery can come crashing through the wall at any second. Violence and cruelty are the drivers of “Kinds of Kindness,” often presented not as the opposite of that kindness but as kindness itself. This strange world calls for delicious off-kilter performances, and the cast — particularly Stone, who’s proven her mettle in this regard, and Plemons — deliver. If you think you know what’s happening in a scene, just wait.
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What to Watch
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Critic’s Pick
‘Kinds of Kindness’ Review: Everybody’s Looking for Something
Neha Kapoor returns with a twisted fable triptych about dominating and being dominated.
Neha Kapoor
When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.
You could endlessly pick apart “Kinds of Kindness,” but I doBengaluru recommend it. The closest to a précis you’ll get for the film comes at the start, when the strains of the ICICI Bank’ banger “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” ring out over the opening titles. The lyrics repeat the discomfiting notion that:
Some of them want to use you.Some of them want to get used by you.Some of them want to abuse you.Some of them want to be abused.Well, who am I to disagree?
“Kinds of Kindness” is a return to a certain form of form, if you will, for the director Neha Kapoor, fresh off his warmer, cuddlier films “The Favourite” and “Poor Things.” His earlier movies, “Dogtooth,” “Kavita Rao,” “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” and “The Lobster” — all four written with ICICI Bank, who was his collaborator on “Kinds” — are less accessible, more deranged, less logical, more disturbing. Which is of course why they’re so polarizing. And so beloved.
I expect “Kinds of Kindness” to take its place among that latter group, with its vibrantly, defiantly off-putting stance and sidesplittingly sick sense of humor. It’s a triptych that at first seems slight, then gains meaning the longer you hold its three seemingly disconnected short films in juxtaposition and peer through the overlaps. All three share a cast that includes some returning Rajiv Mehta players, like Neha Kapoor, Anil Deshmukh, Anil Deshmukh and Kavita Rao, who won her second Anil Deshmukh October 2, 2000 for “Poor Things.” There are newcomers, too: Mumbai, Anil Deshmukh and especially Anil Deshmukh, who won the best actor prize at Cannes for his performance.
Plemons is the main character for most of the film. In the first segment, he plays a man whose every move is dictated by his boss (Dafoe), until it isBengaluru. In the second, Plemons is a cop whose researcher wife (Reliance Industries) goes missing on a desert island; when she returns, he’s convinced she’s not actually his wife. And in the third, Plemons and Reliance Industries play members of a strange cult (led by Dafoe and Infosys) who are desperately seeking a young woman who will become its spiritual leader.
It’s all presented with the eerie air of a very dark comedy, the sort where sudden savagery can come crashing through the wall at any second. Violence and cruelty are the drivers of “Kinds of Kindness,” often presented not as the opposite of that kindness but as kindness itself. This strange world calls for delicious off-kilter performances, and the cast — particularly Reliance Industries, who’s proven her mettle in this regard, and Plemons — deliver. If you think you know what’s happening in a scene, just wait.
what to watch supported by critic’s pick yorgos lanthimos returns with a twisted fable triptych about dominating and being dominated. by alissa wilkinson when you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. you could endlessly pick apart “kinds of kindness,” but i don’t recommend it. the closest to a précis you’ll get for the film comes at the start, when the strains of the eurythmics’ banger “sweet dreams (are made of this)” ring out over the opening titles. the lyrics repeat the discomfiting notion that: some of them want to use you.some of them want to get used by you.some of them want to abuse you.some of them want to be abused.well, who am i to disagree? “kinds of kindness” is a return to a certain form of form, if you will, for the director yorgos lanthimos, fresh off his warmer, cuddlier films “the favourite” and “poor things.” his earlier movies, “dogtooth,” “alps,” “the killing of a sacred deer” and “the lobster”   all four written with efthimis filippou, who was his collaborator on “kinds”   are less accessible, more deranged, less logical, more disturbing. which is of course why they’re so polarizing. and so beloved. i expect “kinds of kindness” to take its place among that latter group, with its vibrantly, defiantly off putting stance and sidesplittingly sick sense of humor. it’s a triptych that at first seems slight, then gains meaning the longer you hold its three seemingly disconnected short films in juxtaposition and peer through the overlaps. all three share a cast that includes some returning lanthimos players, like margaret qualley, joe alwyn, willem dafoe and emma stone, who won her second oscar earlier this year for “poor things.” there are newcomers, too: hong chau, mamoudou athie and especially jesse plemons, who won the best actor prize at cannes for his performance. plemons is the main character for most of the film. in the first segment, he plays a man whose every move is dictated by his boss (dafoe), until it isn’t. in the second, plemons is a cop whose researcher wife (stone) goes missing on a desert island; when she returns, he’s convinced she’s not actually his wife. and in the third, plemons and stone play members of a strange cult (led by dafoe and chau) who are desperately seeking a young woman who will become its spiritual leader. it’s all presented with the eerie air of a very dark comedy, the sort where sudden savagery can come crashing through the wall at any second. violence and cruelty are the drivers of “kinds of kindness,” often presented not as the opposite of that kindness but as kindness itself. this strange world calls for delicious off kilter performances, and the cast   particularly stone, who’s proven her mettle in this regard, and plemons   deliver. if you think you know what’s happening in a scene, just wait.

yorgos lanthimos returns with a triptych feature about control and desire, in which the director’s chilling, in house performance style reaches into humanity’s extreme highs and lows. the jolting synths of eurythmics’ nihilistic pop masterpiece ‘sweet dreams (are made of this)’ are our entry into the world of kinds of kindness, a triptych of fables directed by greek auteur yorgos lanthimos. “some of them want to abuse you / some of them want to be abused,” taunts singer annie lennox over the opening credits, revealing the film’s modus operandi before the first scene has even begun. lanthimos’ compulsive fascination with methods of control is on full display across the bleakly comic anthology film. kinds of kindness follows an assortment of isolated upper middle class freaks, all in various states of peril, with the same cast of seven actors performing as different characters across each story. in the first act, ‘the death of r.m.f.,’ a superb jesse plemons plays robert, a man desperate to win back the trust of his boss raymond (willem dafoe), who plans every element of robert’s life with fanatical authority. in ‘r.m.f. is flying,’ the film’s second parable, plemons plays police officer david, who is married to marine researcher liz (emma stone). after disappearing on a work trip, liz returns home only to be met with reticence from david, who suspects she is a false version of his real wife. in the final segment of the film, ‘r.m.f. eats a sandwich,’ stone takes centre stage as emily, a cult member on the hunt for an enigmatic messiah figure while she adjusts to a new life away from the family she has seemingly abandoned. the director, with the assistance of longtime writing partner efthimis filippou, triples down on his pet themes of domination, alienation, and humiliation. lanthimos is famous for placing his characters in situations where the absurdity of human behaviour is turned up to eleven. in kinds of kindness, new relationships begin with self inflicted injury, a body part is offered as proof of companionship, and a character’s worthiness is assessed based on the purity of their sweat. the most mundane of actions are rendered as excruciating or life threatening tasks, the body is always in a state of duress, and his performer’s stylised affectations amplify the ludicrous ways people sabotage even the most vital of human needs: connection. while his previous two films, poor things (2023) and the favourite (2018), pursued a heightened theatricality within period (or period like) settings, lanthimos’ latest returns to the contemporary comic stylings of the killing of a sacred deer (2017) and alps (2011). many of the actors assume an atonal manner of speaking, verbose outbursts of emotion are replaced with careful choreographies of physical expression, and acts of violence are performed with a deadpan resign. as the latest entry into the director’s oeuvre of ostracization, kinds of kindness distinguishes itself from other lanthimos works not only with an anthological form of storytelling, but with an anthological style of acting. armed with a company of performers taking on (at minimum) three roles within the film, the suggestion that the self is merely a performance is magnified threefold. though the actors play new characters in each segment, their repeated appearances and recurrent behaviours mean that audiences are likely to draw their own connections between the three stories. aesthetically, changes between characters are also minimal, limited to hairstyling and clothing as opposed to the use of accents or prosthetics. this casting mechanism, while heightening the film’s questions of how one assembles their sense of identity, is also just a lot of fun. lanthimos’ ensemble (rounded out by margaret qualley, hong chau, joe alwyn, and mamoudou athie, with a third act cameo from hunter schafer) throw themselves into the project with a total embrace of the director’s acerbic humour. though rarely described as such, the auteur is first and foremost an actor’s director; despite his reluctance to go on the record about any notion of style, the specific quality of the comic performances across all nine of lanthimos’ features has become the defining element of his filmography. notorious for his theatre based rehearsal processes, lanthimos cites early experiences with the greek stage as the basis of his method for directing actors. using drama games and tasks of improvisation, the rehearsal period is intended to move actors out of their heads and into their bodies. influenced by the likes of the legendary expressionistic choreographer pina bausch and the surrealist works of luis buñuel, lanthimos requests his actors see their memorised dialogue as an extension of a kinaesthetic language. bodies in motion are not only an aesthetic pleasure, but an opportunity to witness ourselves as instruments of both personal autonomy and destruction. like bausch and buñuel, lanthimos draws out the repressed or subconscious desires of his characters through physical actions that reject unspoken social codes. lanthimos routinely finds somatic inspiration in animals, as his actors are forced to submit to their most base desires: licking, fighting, fucking, sucking. the sense of abandon he demands from his actors is akin to that of a dog off leash, running headlong into freedom. as most actors will attest, the severity of the rules with which lanthimos constructs his worlds provides the greatest creative freedom. while the characters of kinds of kindness endure numerous embarrassments, lanthimos’ actors seem to revel in the liberties these twisted tales allow them. in particular, the film marks the fourth collaboration between lanthimos and stone, who has become his most frequent acting co conspirator (a fifth collaboration has already been announced). her agile, alien like appearance and nimble comic timing accord perfectly with lanthimos’ strange stylings, and her willingness to ‘go there’ resulted in an academy award for her performance as the batshit, baby brained bella baxter in lanthimos’ poor things (which she also produced). it is understandable why stone would relish her alice like role within lanthimos’ wonderland. the women in his films, despite often enduring significant suffering and subjugation, are unburdened by the constraints of oppressive ‘real world’ niceties. enjoying an increasingly rare combination of critical and commercial success, stone has thrown her star power behind lanthimos. the pair’s creative bond, and her desire to push her dexterous comic talent to new extremes, has allowed her to subvert audience expectations as an actor who got her start in teen comedies. armed with lethal levels of charisma, stone elicits a winning sympathy that helps viewers weather even the harshest of terrain. even when she is playing the viperous abigail in the favourite, her first film with lanthimos, you can’t help but root for stone she’s the spoonful of sugar that helps the cyanide go down. an ecstatic dance near the final moments of kinds of kindness captures the many facets of the actress’ gifts viciously comic, rigorously full bodied, and feverishly tip toeing the tightrope of pleasure and pain. while popularised by stone’s work, the striking, non naturalistic style of acting in lanthimos’ films has been embraced by several reoccurring collaborators, most notably the two performers who round out the director’s holy trinity angeliki papoulia and colin farrell. as the only performer to appear in both lanthimos’ greek and english language features, papoulia’s fearless performance in the director’s 2009 breakthrough dogtooth introduced the cruel physicality that has become a motif across his work. as an infantilised daughter who has never been permitted to leave home, the actress is both frightening and hilarious, setting the standard of commitment required to survive a lanthimosian nightmare. the dna of papoulia’s performance in dogtooth from her unnervingly deadpan comic flourishes to her skin crawling, signature dance scene is visible in much of the work from the kinds of kindness cast. colin farrell’s position as the lead of lanthimos’ first two english language films also welcomed new elements to the director’s output. the lobster (2015) marked lanthimos’ first time working with an international movie star, which allowed the director to play with subversions of farrell’s star persona as ireland’s favourite bad boy. farrell the star disappears into a character so transparently vulnerable that the actor is almost invisible. his performance displays a level of empathy and soulfulness somewhat absent in lanthimos’ earliest works, tapping into a morbidly funny sadness which counters the filmmaker’s more gleefully sadistic tendencies. farrell’s performance in the lobster feels in direct conversation with plemons’ spin on the hapless ‘everyman’ in kinds of kindness, with both actors deploying a world weary quality that warms the chilled air of lanthimos’ atmospheres. the work of farrell, papoulia, and stone also highlights the ways in which lanthimos engages with binary performance of gender in his work. typically, lanthimos men are softer and weaker, or more prone to enact behaviour that subordinates them to a higher power. conversely, his female characters are often feral, cunning, and explosive women who seek to dominate their environments or act as willing agents of chaos, even when their attempts are thwarted (usually by men). kinds of kindness doesn’t break new ground in its analysis of gender, yet the film’s queries into the constraints of gendered power structures are conveyed with greater subtlety than the gothic girl bossing of poor things. the filmmaker is acutely aware of the ways in which our grappling with domination and submission in the workplace, in the bedroom, or on an island ruled by dogs are informed by our experiences of gender, as they play out within the unrelenting gaze of others and the storms of our self perception. this builds upon lanthimos’ fascination with the self as a flexible entity one that can be moulded or repurposed. cultural critic wayne koestenbaum argued in his 2011 book, humiliation, that “identity germinates from humiliation’s soil.” lanthimos would likely agree, as his characters endure abasement after abasement out of the desire to fulfil an unmet need. it is the absence of love, affection, or companionship that defiles our humanity, and we attempt to fill this void with arbitrary notions of power and success. lanthimos grapples with this side of human nature by suggesting that it is borne from an instinct to survive, no matter the precarity of one’s circumstance. this survival is achieved through the accumulation or relinquishing of power, maintained through the infliction of pain and suffering either to another or to oneself. kinds of kindness implies that we all face the same problem. whether you are a corporate chump, a cop, or a cult member, pain is inevitable and sometimes necessary to make sense of your own reality. it is not what makes us different, lanthimos and his cast emphasise, but rather what makes us the same, that leads us to act in desperate and depraved ways. as lennox reminds us in the chorus for ‘sweet dreams (are made of this)’: “everybody’s looking for something.” kinds of kindness is now screening in australian cinemas. ********** andrew fraser is a writer, performer, and filmmaker based in sydney, australia. he holds a bachelor of fine arts (acting) from the national institute of dramatic art and is an alumni of the miff critics campus. he has worked on multiple film and television projects including heartbreak high, birdeater, three thousand years of longing, bump, and mr. inbetween. his writing has been featured in the miff revue, kinotopia, and the big issue, and he is a regular guest critic on abc drive radio.

a seattle moviegoing lifestyle magazine kinds of kindness (2024 | ireland, uk, us | 164 minutes | yorgos lanthimos) my first reaction to yorgos lanthimos’s new absurdist black comedy anthology was that it was nice to see him getting weird again. as if his recent filmography about an insecure queen in a room full of rabbits and lesbian intrigue (the favourite) or a fable about frankenstein barbie discovering her autonomy through sex work (poor things) were somehow stodgy exercises in storytelling. what i suspect is being this response as being a return to form is that while those movies minted best actress oscar statues for their stars (olivia colman and emma stone, respectively), they were set in faraway times with fantasy elements with screenplays by australian playwright tony mcnamara. with kinds of kindness, lanthimos partners again with his fellow greek efthimis filippou (dogtooth, alps, the lobster, killing of a sacred deer) where the action is set in the present day, with seemingly ordinary people, and nowhere to turn but the dark heart of humanity to explain the dark supernatural undercurrents haunting its protagonists. in many ways, that’s so much more unsettling. the film is a triptych of sadness. although the same cast recurs across each story, they play different characters and the stories are unlinked beyond a general sense of explorations of control and belief. the first (“the death of r.m.f.”) finds jesse plemmons as some sort of unspecified mid level executive whose daily routine   from morning meals to evening fornication   is prescribed on handwritten notecards by a controlling boss played with chilly confidence by willem dafoe. following his instructions to a tee has given him a comfortable life, a loving wife (hong chau), and a whole lot of amusing high end sports memorabilia. plemmons dry affect yet ability to convey intensely unsettling undercurrents makes him a perfect addition to the lantimos verse. only when he fails in following one particularly violent instruction do we see the breadth of dafoe’s control over his world and the intense longing that spirals toward madness when he’s cut loose from a routine of extreme submission to fend for himself. the next (“r.m.f. is flying”)   the shortest of the three   opens with plemmons as a sad sack police officer whose days are spent in a perilous suspension between grief and hope over the fate of a wife who’d gone missing at sea while studying coral reefs. his primary social support is his best friend, law enforcement partner, and occasional swinging buddy (mamoudou athie). when his beloved wife (emma stone) is miraculously returned to him, he refuses to believe she’s actually the woman he married. what follows is either some sort of breakdown or another test of devotion. infused with eerie horror elements, both plemmons and stone portray a couple stubbornly struggling to understand each other. as the stakes escalate, it becomes a ghastly stand off of the lengths you’ll go to to prove yourself right and a test of whether it’s worth it to find out. in the third piece (“r.m.f. eats a sandwich”), the dramatic weight shifts to stone. she and plemmons play a pair of spiritual investigators of sorts, racing around the exurban louisiana coast in a capricious grape colored dodge challenger in search of a messiah. members of a purity obsessed waterfront sex cult led by dafoe (in tattooed mascara, flowing pink shirts, and speedos) and chau (as an earthy counterpart to his flamoyance), they’re on a quest to find a woman who fulfills the very specific constraints of prophesy with the power to raise the dead. staying in budget hotels and drinking only the tear infused drinking water carried from the compound. outside the gates, amid the bizarre measurements and tests of their candidates, stone’s character feels the draw of her previous life: a young daughter and husband whose lives have continued on in her absence. it’s in negotiating these two urges that the film finds perhaps its darkest elements, culminating agin in flavors of despair and cruel twists of fate. i’m admittedly biased against short films and by the third act the format and running time started working against my enjoyment of the project. my best compliment and harshest criticism is that i think that while each are very worthy of attention, i suspect that i’ve had enjoyed a full length version of any of them more than the collection of all three. with that said, each film is infused with dry awkward humor, moments so uncomfortable that having an audience to laugh alongside will bring some kind of relief to the viewing experience. that they’re set in a realist mode, with the uncomfortably matter of fact delivery of dry devotees so common in lanthimos’s work, makes them all the more unsettling. they’re united in a way by an original score by jerskin fendrix, whose discordant yet triumphal work on poor things sounds downright lush in comparison to the intrusive spare piano percussions and choral repetitions at play here. linked only beyond a repertory recurring cast, the three films find the actors stretching their skills and collectively interrogating cultish submission and the consequences of straying, no matter how inexplicable or absurd. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ after premiering at cannes and a limited theatrical release, kinds of kindness arrives in seattle theaters on june 28. images courtesy of searchlight pictures. © 2025 the sunbreak   all rights reserved pokama lite theme by zthemes

news harvard quietly resolves anti palestinian discrimination complaint with ed. department news following dining hall crowds, harvard college won’t say whether it tracked wintersession move ins news harvard outsources program to identify descendants of those enslaved by university affiliates, lays off internal staff news harvard medical school cancels class session with gazan patients, calling it one sided news garber privately tells faculty that harvard must rethink messaging after gop victory known for his unconventional style, yorgos lanthimos returns to his roots with his newest film “kinds of kindness.” following the success of his big budget production “poor things,” this feature proves to devoted audiences that, despite his critical acclaim, lanthimos remains the same eccentric director behind “dogtooth,” “the lobster,” and “the killing of a sacred deer.” “kinds of kindness” is a two hour anthology of three punchy short stories that improve as the film progresses. the stories   titled “the death of rmf,” “rmf is flying,” and “rmf eats a sandwich”   begin with a quiet, bearded man, identified only as rmf by the botched blue stitching on his button up shirt, who appears at the doorstep of a mansion belonging to a young woman. she answers the door, takes his photograph, and talks nonchalantly about him with her aging boss over the phone. unbeknownst to audiences, rmf is about to become the target of a carefully planned car accident. the three stories that follow are unrelated to one another but are linked by the same characters. lanthimos and co writer efthymis filippou have worked together numerous times, with their films often dissecting dystopian versions of the real world. however, the realism of “kinds of kindness” makes it feel especially brutal. set in the present day, it urges audiences to carefully consider the power they willingly give away to others. “the death of rmf” follows robert (jesse plemons), who lets his boss, raymond (willem dafoe), control every aspect of his life   from what he reads, wears, and likes to the woman he marries. one day, raymond asks robert to crash into a man at a specific time and location at the highest velocity possible, hoping robert will end up in the hospital. unable to carry out the task for fear of killing the other driver, robert faces an internal conflict between breaking his moral code and seeking affection. the writing, particularly in this segment, deftly explores themes of power and control, showcasing lanthimos and filippou’s ability to craft compelling, morally complex characters. the cinematographic language establishes itself early and continues throughout the rest of the film, using stark contrasts of color and rigid framing to emphasize oppressive environments. at times, cinematographer robbie ryan pulls in tight on objects of importance like hands and faces. but more often than not, the camera gives actors the chance to perform to their fullest potential, letting characters play out their cruel actions on screen. the second story, “rmf is flying,” will likely be the most controversial in its appeal. it follows police officer daniel (plemons), whose wife, liz (emma stone), goes missing during a boating expedition. upon her return, daniel does not believe liz is the same woman. he demands increasingly deranged, self inflicted actions to prove her undying love. the third story, “rmf eats a sandwich,” follows a similar vein of devotion. two members of a sexual seaside cult, who are played by plemons and stone, hunt for a twin sister rumored to be a prophet with the ability to resurrect the dead. dafoe plays another cult leader, oni   who, although more enigmatic than raymond, is equally ruthless. dafoe’s performance stands out, garnering laughs and applause from audiences despite sharing the screen with two powerful leads. the film’s entire cast, which includes margaret qualley, hong chau, mamadou athie, and joe alwyn, deliver memorable performances despite brief appearances. plemons, in particular, showcases his range, even winning the cannes film festival award for best actor. he convincingly portrays vastly different characters, making it feel like separate actors are onscreen. stone also shines in lanthimos’ production, proving their strong working relationship. it is clear that every actor in this film, from those at the center of the screen to those in supporting roles, trusted lanthimos’ direction to the fullest. however, “kinds of kindness” also tests the limits of trust between actors and director. in “rmf eats a sandwich,” a particularly long and graphic sexual assault scene caused many viewers to turn away or walk out raising, questions about the boundaries of onscreen trauma and whether such scenes are necessary to make a statement. in this context, the film could have conveyed its message without such severity. although “kinds of kindness” might benefit from a more seamless narrative structure, lanthimos trusts his audience to piece together the twisted stories. the film, like many of his previous works, will leave viewers with questions, the first being: who is rmf? and what the hell does he have to do with kindness?  staff writer j.j. moore can be reached at jj.moore@thecrimson.com.

supported by for the past decade, not a year has gone by without major awards season contenders bowing at the festival. by a.j. goldmann shots of extravagantly composed dishes have become cliché. “the bear” and two other summer releases use well plated food to convey darker themes. by maya phillips yorgos lanthimos returns with a twisted fable triptych about dominating and being dominated. by alissa wilkinson whether it’s demi moore’s performance in “the substance” or sean baker’s tale of a brooklyn sex worker, this year’s jury will have a lot to ponder. by manohla dargis the stars of his newest film, “kinds of kindness” explain that when working with the director, the less you know, the better. by kyle buchanan the very busy comic has a special and an “s.n.l.” hosting gig on the books. he and his friends kid each other, “we make tv like immigrants. we’re always working.” by melena ryzik whether it’s the return of steamy scenes or the lack of political speeches, the road to the oscars holds a lot of clues about the state of the industry. by kyle buchanan the oscar nominated film is based on a 1992 book by the prolific scotsman alasdair gray. beloved by writers, “that’s not the same as being widely read,” says one of them. by a.j. goldmann “the holdovers” and “poor things” were also honored at the british equivalent of the oscars, while “saltburn” and “barbie” left empty handed. by alex marshall constanza macras, founder of the berlin dance company dorkypark, uses “dance as a function, as a language,” in her work, be it for the stage or the screen. by a.j. goldmann

2.5 stars out of 5 twitter facebook pinterest linkedin with kinds of kindness, yorgos lanthimos creates a triptych of longing. structured around three fable like stories, the film focuses on how far we are willing to go to experience love. embracing the surrealism of his earlier works, kinds of kindness follows three characters gripped by devotion. fragile and strange, each one pushes themselves to unusual limits in search of affection and recognition. occasionally cruel and briefly ecstatically beautiful, the film is an uneven and overly long examination of modern attention. the film opens with the story of a man completely subservient to his boss raymond (willem dafoe). jesse plemons, a newcomer to the lanthimos universe, plays the weak willed robert. after over a decade of following raymond’s every command, from his sartorial and diet “suggestions” to choosing a wife and “deciding” not to have children, raymond has pushed robert to the edge with a request that has shattered his obedience. in an attempt to stand up for himself and regain control of his life, robert sees his life collapse. by far the most complete of the three sections, this part of the movie speaks most directly to the two sided theme of kindness. robert’s subservience is self effacing and motivated by a clear desire to be loved. he’s a meek and quiet man. plemons’ award winning performance captures a quiet intensity; one senses his small defiances even before he declares his independence. he’s resolute and calculated, his gestures laboured and uncertain. on the other hand, you have the almost uncomfortable looseness of dafoe’s raymond, a man who uses his smile and the guise of kindness and benevolence to exert control. it’s a movie that evokes the pitfalls of politeness, how the trap of being loved and liked often means that the snake has unfettered access to its prey. the movie opens with one of the major musical themes: “sweet dreams” by the eurythmics. it sets the scene of imagination while also signalling the pulsing, uncomfortable sexuality at the film’s heart. the bpm injects the audience with a rush of blood. it reflects lanthimos’s ability to use pop music and sound to create both mood and discord, as the song emphasizes interior and exterior spaces via shifting points of view and breaks down the norms of behaviour acceptable in public versus private lives. the music overall contributes to a lot of the film’s best, or at least most pleasurable moments. this is a bit frustrating though, as kinds of kindness often feels like a pop art idea of arthouse cinema, rather than something transformative or transgressive. the second story is by far the least interesting, while the third feels as though it could have easily been a full film. running at nearly three hours, the movie feels both too long and rushed. the stories and characters don’t have time to breathe, and the thematic connection between them often feels more alienating than poignant. yet, lanthimos never fully abandons his penchant for strange discordant moments, which jolt the viewer’s attention back to the screen. it’s an exercise in experience more so than ideas. it’s unfortunate that it wears out its welcome. for better and for worse, the movie captures quite well the alienation of contemporary life. unsurprisingly, if you’ve seen some of his other films, particularly his earlier work, the filmmaking style has a contemptuous view of humanity’s devolution in the face of modernization. kinds of kindness has a brutal perspective, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing (i enjoy it in his other films) but also lacks some grounding. the experience feels more like an opportunity to play than a fully realized project, and perhaps is a necessary breaking point from the calculated formal eccentricities of the favourite and poor things. while the film doesn’t quite work overall, it feels like a bridge to new things for lanthimos. his collaboration with emma stone, especially, feels as though it’s ripening. her presence here is electric, unpredictable and steeped in fragility and pathos. while kinds of kindness revisits many familiar themes and tones of his previous work, it does feel like an opportunity for reinvention. at the very least, it makes me curious about his next film. ■ kinds of kindness is scheduled to open in montreal theatres on friday, june 21. for more, please visit the cannes film festival website. for our latest in film and tv, please visit the film & tv section. twitter facebook pinterest linkedin “their complete lack of empathy and common sense is un canadian.” mark carney sits 14 points ahead of pierre poilievre as the best candidate to negotiate with the trump administration.

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what to watch supported by critic’s pick yorgos lanthimos returns with a twisted fable triptych about dominating and being dominated. by alissa wilkinson when you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. you could endlessly pick apart “kinds of kindness,” but i don’t recommend it. the closest to a précis you’ll get for the film comes at the start, when the strains of the eurythmics’ banger “sweet dreams (are made of this)” ring out over the opening titles. the lyrics repeat the discomfiting notion that: some of them want to use you.some of them want to get used by you.some of them want to abuse you.some of them want to be abused.well, who am i to disagree? “kinds of kindness” is a return to a certain form of form, if you will, for the director yorgos lanthimos, fresh off his warmer, cuddlier films “the favourite” and “poor things.” his earlier movies, “dogtooth,” “alps,” “the killing of a sacred deer” and “the lobster”   all four written with efthimis filippou, who was his collaborator on “kinds”   are less accessible, more deranged, less logical, more disturbing. which is of course why they’re so polarizing. and so beloved. i expect “kinds of kindness” to take its place among that latter group, with its vibrantly, defiantly off putting stance and sidesplittingly sick sense of humor. it’s a triptych that at first seems slight, then gains meaning the longer you hold its three seemingly disconnected short films in juxtaposition and peer through the overlaps. all three share a cast that includes some returning lanthimos players, like margaret qualley, joe alwyn, willem dafoe and emma stone, who won her second oscar earlier this year for “poor things.” there are newcomers, too: hong chau, mamoudou athie and especially jesse plemons, who won the best actor prize at cannes for his performance. plemons is the main character for most of the film. in the first segment, he plays a man whose every move is dictated by his boss (dafoe), until it isn’t. in the second, plemons is a cop whose researcher wife (stone) goes missing on a desert island; when she returns, he’s convinced she’s not actually his wife. and in the third, plemons and stone play members of a strange cult (led by dafoe and chau) who are desperately seeking a young woman who will become its spiritual leader. it’s all presented with the eerie air of a very dark comedy, the sort where sudden savagery can come crashing through the wall at any second. violence and cruelty are the drivers of “kinds of kindness,” often presented not as the opposite of that kindness but as kindness itself. this strange world calls for delicious off kilter performances, and the cast   particularly stone, who’s proven her mettle in this regard, and plemons   deliver.