Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos often flirts with pretentious vibes and niche indie cliche; up until his newest, Kinds of Kindness, that delicate balance would mostly work. This strangely constructed set of unconnected stories recycles the same actors, failing to live up to the promise of an intriguing first installment. Neverthless, we do we get to watch Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons in their element, and a kooky-queer version of Willem Dafoe. For those hungry for Lanthimos strangeness, maybe there will be an appetizer of a movie hidden for them somewhere. For everyone else, a nearly three-hour runtime and nonsensical plot threads are certain to bore them into submission.
The vignettes have at least all been named, allowing for easy access to skip around to your heart’s content. The trio are comprised of “The Death of R.M.F.,” “R.M.F. is Flying,” and “R.M.F Eats a Sandwich.” In the first (and by far best) entry, Plemons stars Robert, whilst Dafoe plays his demanding boss, Raymond. Their strange relationship captivates, as Raymond seeks to control Robert’s weight, or make off-color requests for Robert to instigate potentially deadly car crash accidents. Trying to make sense of the metaphorical subtext may be a fool’s errand, but this section of the triptych still manages to impress enough through entertainment value alone and exploration of power dynamics.
Second, “R.M.F. is Flying” goes for a decidedly different type of vibe, still maintaining Plemons as the lead. This time around, Plemons fills the shoes of obsessive Daniel, out to locate his missing wife (Stone). What eventually returns appears quite different from what left. Idealization and false images of others are the theme this go-round, but the empty message fails to pay off in a satisfying manner before bleeding into the last of the bunch.
“R.M.F Eats a Sandwich” is the final story, and probably the one that had the most promise on paper. Home to the most outlandish visuals along with some Midsommar-esque cult happenings, Lanthimos does at least give Stone quite a bit to do within this segment. Stone and Plemons play a duo attempting to find the cult’s version of the “chosen one” trope, a woman who potentially has incredible healing powers. For some reason, there’s a lot going on here with tasting human flesh. Stone’s best performance of the feature arrives, but altogether “Sandwich” misses the mark as it hopelessly spins its wheels. At least Stone’s erratic dancing to COBRAH’s “Brand New Bitch” manages to end the film on a high note.
With only one third of the stories being worthy of a watch, Kinds of Kindness would not even have enough staying power to support a failing vehicle. No one tries to make it work harder than Plemons—he at least comes out the other side having given it his all. Only shaky thematic connections string the three of tales into a complete whole. The trio of lead performers try hard to justify its existence, but Kinds of Kindness still presents the first major stumble for auteur Yorgos Lanthimos. The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Favourite are still, in my humble opinion, Lanthimos’s true masterworks.
Attempt to interpret the Kinds of Kindness, now streaming on Hulu and available for purchase on all digital platforms.
