Kinds of Kindness is a triptych fable, following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader.

The Garden Cinema View:

After his recent mainstream success working with Tony McNamara, Yorgos Lanthimos reignites his creative partnership with writer Efthymis Filippou. What this means for us is a move away from the likes of The Favourite and Poor Things, and a return of the acerbic absurdism of Dogtooth and The Lobster.

As tends to be the case with anthology films, Kinds of Kindness is uneven. The first section is the strongest: a sado-masochistic black comedy about the systems of control that govern our working and personal lives. Channelling something of J. G. Ballard (and possibly John Fowles’ The Magus), Lanthimos’ affectless style works very effectively in this dead world of corporate subservience. The second and third parts play uneasily; there are moments of surreal invention and shocking humour in both the doppelgänger and cult narratives, that feel completely unique to Lanthimos. There are also repeated scenes of abuse and narrative longueurs which are quite draining.

Although Kinds of Kindness is an unhappy film, it is a distinctly Lanthimosian experience, which adds to the unique character of the filmmaker's Cinematic Universe ©.

Cast:
Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Mamoudou Athie, Joe Alwyn