Kinds of Kindness is weird, and absurd, and dark…but you should expect that if you’ve seen Yorgos Lanthimos other films. The nearly three-hour twisted triptych stitches together three wild stories that explore the absurdities of human behavior, each more unsettling than the last.
In the first story, Jesse Plemons plays Robert, a man whose life is micromanaged by his dominating boss and lover, Raymond, portrayed by Willem Dafoe. Plemons delivers a painfully awkward performance, perfectly embodying a man trapped in a cycle of obedience and desperation. Dafoe, with his signature intensity, plays Raymond as a cold, calculating figure whose grip on control starts to slip, making their power dynamic even more unsettling. Things spiral out of control after Robert meets Rita, his replacement played by Emma Stone, until he finally demonstrates his true allegiance to Raymond, regaining his trust, love and control.
The second narrative plunges into the surreal and uncomfortable. Daniel (Plemons) grapples with the eerie return of his wife, Liz (Stone), who has been missing for years. Something is off…she looks the same and sounds the same, but Daniel can’t shake the feeling that she’s someone, or something, else. Stone’s portrayal seamlessly shifts between haunting and heartfelt, leaving both Daniel and the audience questioning reality. If you liked The Lobster, you’ll enjoy the dark comedy with absurdist horror of this segment.
The final story catapults us into the unsettling world of a cult, where devotion and delusion blur together. Emily (Stone) is a devoted member of this secretive group led by OMI (Dafoe) and AKA, played by Hong Chau. Emily and Andrew (Plemons) are searching for someone with the power to bring people back from the dead. Unlike the authoritarian control of the first segment or the eerie domestic uncertainty of the second, this chapter is driven by blind faith. After finding identical twins Ruth and Rebecca, portrayed by Margaret Qualley, Emily connects the dots only to lose it all due to her own carelessness.
In the end, Kinds of Kindness shines a mirror on several grotesque parts of humanity. It’s unsettling, provocative and unapologetically weird. If you’re willing to navigate its labyrinth of storylines, the film provides a darkly satirical exploration of control, identity and the absurd lengths to which we go to find meaning.
RHFC Rating: 8/10 🍿
