When I sit down to review a movie, there's one thing I don't have to worry about: whether I liked it or not. This is the easiest part of this job. When I leave a theater I tend to know, like most people, how I generally feel about what I just saw. Expressing why I feel this way specifically is where the real work begins. But not today. Today is the exception, because I don't know if I like it kind of kindness or if i really hate it. This anthology-style film is a captivating mess filled with world-class performances in absolutely outlandish plots. It also intentionally, frustratingly, keeps viewers on the outside instead of letting them fully into this strange world of unusual people and supernatural phenomena. kind of kindness it's a movie that dares you to like it while not caring if you don't.
And that seems to be exactly how director Yorgos Lanthimos wanted me to feel when I left my theater. His film is not interested in generating typical reactions, neither emotional nor academic. He is only interested in doing what he wants to do at his own pace and in his own way.
It is almost impossible to describe the three different plots of kind of kindness without going into major movie-ruining spoilers. To even indicate what it is, we need Searchlight Pictures' official synopsis. It is technically correct in the same way that you would be technically correct if you described Neil Armstrong's moon landing by saying, “A guy went for a walk.” Yes, but no.
Kinds of Kindness is a triptych fable, which follows a man without a 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 looks like a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific person with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader
All this sounds like normal stories, but nothing kind of kindness qualify as normal. This is an overtly weird movie. At times, especially in the first segment, it seems like being weird is all it wants to be. The three connected mini-movies are filled with unusual people, possibly supernatural beings, strange relationships, sex cults and uncomfortable power dynamics.
The three short films (which are all close to being feature films) have a transverse line. The meaning of this line is so ambiguous that the Internet will provide 500 different “explainers” claiming a different meaning. Some viewers will find this kind of ambiguity fascinating and worthy of deep exploration. Others will find it frustrating and so open-ended that it seems pointless. Only those who claim to know definitively what Lanthimos meant will be wrong. kind of kindness it doesn't provide many answers (sometimes it provides zero), because the answer is not the point. This film is less of a film and more of an experience defined by ideas.
Even his ideas are up for debate. When the movie ended, I asked someone at my screening what they thought the main themes were. I didn't totally disagree with anything they said, but they hadn't even addressed my main takeaway, which I think is clearly the most important issue. Some people will love this kind of freedom to find their own meaning, just as some people love a painting open to endless interpretations. Others will find it pretentious and off-putting. I kind of feel both ways, which is a big reason why I have no idea if I like this movie or not. It's interesting, but infuriating. Mesmerizing, but tedious. Attractive, but inaccessible.
(Note: I've chosen not to share what I think the main theme of the movie is because even putting that idea in your head will completely change your experience of watching this movie. kind of kindness it's the rare case where telling you an “idea” is a much bigger spoiler than telling you a major plot point. That alone tells you a lot about the nature of this movie and whether you might enjoy it.)
For as strange as kind of kindness that is, it is still a film with basic elements that can be easily evaluated. Lanthimos (The Favorite, poor things) is a brilliant director who knows how to establish a sense of place and time. Here he creates a unique atmosphere that perfectly suits the unbalanced nature of his story/stories. Everything works in harmony, even when he constantly uses discordant piano notes as a score.
It's also no wonder how amazing the cast is. Having Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone as the leads and letting them play multiple characters is even better in practice than it sounds in theory. Both create three different and dynamic characters (sometimes as the protagonist, sometimes as a supporting character). This movie is a testament to his immense talents and without his performances, I wouldn't be struggling with my feelings for this movie. The same goes for the rest of the cast: Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn and Mamoudou Athie. They are all great doing triple duty. (Or in one case, quadruple duty.)
As much as I loved the cast and the aesthetic kind of kindness, the pace often felt like torture. It's two hours long and 45 hours long which feels like more than 17 hours. Fortunately, all three stories get more engaging as they go along, so that helped… a little. The first installment is more of an interesting idea than an actual story and really drags. (It's also the least accessible/most mysterious.) The second feels like a short film with a familiar plot that goes on too long, but could easily have been its own feature with more focus. The third section is the closest to a typical narrative, and it's no surprise that it's easily the most emotionally satisfying. This is a much-needed dynamic and an anchor that is desperately missing from the rest of the film.
What doesn't come too late is the comedy. kind of kindnessThe closest genre is probably dark comedy, and it really works when it is. The first segment is only funny at points, but the second is laugh out loud funny. Same with the third one, which is hilarious even though it's the most personal and human.
In the end, everything seems to work exactly as Yorgos Lanthimos intended, including my unusual reaction it generated. I'm sure he hopes everyone likes this movie, but he also doesn't care if we hate it. kind of kindness he doesn't care about anything so basic. It operates on its own strange frequency and how you listen to it, and what you do with it when you do, is entirely up to you. The result is a film that is equal parts fascinating and frustrating.
In the end did I like it or did it hate me? I'm going to give it a positive star rating today largely because I can't see Plemons and Stone being that good in a movie and give it a negative one, but my rating doesn't actually answer that question. I like kind of kindnessI'll leave it up to you to decide.
If you understand, tell me. Knowing how I feel about a movie is usually the easiest part of this job.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer for Nerdist. You can follow it Twitter i Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
