Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is having quite the year, receiving critical acclaim for his Frankenstein inspired Poor Things and two Oscar nominations. He is back with Kinds of Kindness, his third collaboration with Emma Stone. The dark comedy has already found success at Cannes, being nominated for the Palm D’Or and winning in the acting categories, but can that translate to box office success?
The film is described as a ‘Triptych Fable’, made up of three loosely connected stories, with the main cast playing different characters each time. The first story sees Jesse Plemons play Robert, a man who must obey every command of his boss, Raymond (Willem Dafoe). The second is about a police officer (Plemons) who questions whether his wife (Stone) is who she says she is after miraculously returning from being lost at sea. The third finds Stone and Plemons playing cult members looking for a woman who can resurrect the dead. This is a return to the truly bizarre storytelling that made Lanthimos’ name.
Read more: Poor Things review: Emma Stone is well worthy of Oscars hype
Embracing themes like humiliation and cruelty, Lanthimos invites us to smirk at societal control, capitalism, and the dark side of relationships with the kind of humour that skirts close to line. However, at two hours forty five minutes it can all feel somewhat exhausting for those who aren’t attuned to its misanthropic rhythm. In the decade since she left the world of Spider-man, Emma Stone has focused on working with auteurs in films like La La Land, Birdman, and of course her trio of Lanthimos movies.
Like Dafoe, she seems built for this world, for putting herself outside of the Hollywood comfort zone. Kinds of Kindness is decidedly uncomfortable, pushing boundaries to the point of breaking. The director has crafted a twisted anthology that will either leave you crying with laughter or pale with concern.
Read more: Emma Stone’s Poor Things receives eight-minute standing ovation for graphic sex scenes
