Kinds of Kindness: A tightly written and intriguing triptych fable where Jesse Plemons shines

After the awards success of Poor Things, the June release date for Kinds of Kindness came as a pleasant surprise. Though resultant of scheduling conflicts for Lanthimos’ new film, a Save The Green Planet remake starring Emma Stone, Kinds of Kindness is the perfect bridge between two major films due to its smaller scope and scale.

Kinds of Kindness is sold as a triptych fable which three different loosely linked stories are explored, showing how kindness may not always necessarily translate to good outcomes.

Lanthimos reunites once again with screenwriting partner Efthimis Filippou, responsible for the likes of Dogtooth, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. The kookiness that arises as a result of their partnership is the most intriguing element of the film. We’re introduced to three kinds of kindness, none of which bode well for characters.

STRANGE HUMOUR: 
The first story The Death of R.M.F focuses on Robert (played by Jesse Plemons, this film’s standout), a businessman who is under siege to the commands of his boss Raymond (Willem Dafoe) who controls every part of Robert’s life. From the drinks he has to the books he reads to what times he can have sex, Robert’s routine is structured to the minute.

However, when he begins to withdraw, the consequences come swift and sharp. Raymond often rewards Robert with bizarre things as a token of his love and when Robert rejects his orders, job opportunities, relationships, and gifts are all taken back. Most have the strange humour innate to Lanthimos’ films (a smashed John McEnroe racket seems to be valued above all else) but Robert seems to struggle less with his losses and more with his newfound independence.

Unused to having to decide for himself, he still needs other’s advice in order to pursue what he thinks is the best option. It's an interesting concept, that once Robert attains free will he actually doesn’t know how to handle it. It substitutes as a reflection of our society, that though it’s not particularly exciting or groundbreaking or colourful, structured order is what gives our life meaning.

Perhaps without it, we wouldn’t function at all. Raymond’s routine also acts a reminder of the growing pervasiveness of social media into our lives. Over the past few years, with the rise of life coaches and bio-hacking experts, people are encouraged to rise at dawn, juggle six hobbies, work nine to five and progress towards that ultimate goal of being our best selves. Yet in doing so, the characters remain flat, apathetic people, reciting dialogue with the same stiltedness in Lanthimos’ other films. These routines suck the liveliness out of people and turn them into shells who live life according to logic rather than feeling. It seems Lanthimos is suggesting freedom is the optimal path but we are too cowardly to pursue it, needing the re- assurance of others that we are in fact living life “correctly.”

OUT OF BOUNDS:
The second film, R.M.F is Flying zones in on Daniel (Plemons again) whose wife Liz (Emma Stone) returns home after having gone missing for several months. Plemons quickly begins to suspect his wife is an intruder due to her newfound affinity for chocolate and the fact her feet doesn’t fit her shoes. There’s a bit more fun to this, watching Plemons sink down the conspiracy rabbit hole as he attempts to convinces others that his wife really is an imposter. In order to confirm his suspicions, he decides to tests Liz’s love and how far she is willing to go for him. There’s something relentlessly disturbing about Liz “kindness” towards a cruel Plemons, bringing in the sharp reality of toxic relationships and what we’re willing to give up for the ones we love. This story has its nastier elements and is what critics refer to where it might be “too much” for audiences. In contrast, it doesn’t seem to be too out-of- bounds for anything we’ve seen from Lanthimos pre-The Favourite. If you can handle anything from that era, you should be fine here too.

The last feature R.M.F Eats a Sandwich centres on the duo of Plemons and Stone together again (perhaps prepping them for their roles together in Lanthimos’ “Bugonia”) who are seeking out a woman who can allegedly raise the dead. Much was made of Hunter Schafer’s addition to the cast but she has little screentime, her role more reminiscent of Margeret Qualley’s brief cameo in Poor Things.

Out of the three stories, I felt this was the weakest though things quickly pick up once we’re introduced to AKA (Hong Chau) and OMI (Willem Dafoe) whose cult consist of yachts, sleeping with everyone and an extremely hot sauna room. Despite its slower pace compared to the other two, it does reach perhaps the most satisfying conclusion of three and bodes well for Qualley and Schafer’s return to the Lanthimos multiverse.

A PALETTE CLEANSER:

In contrast to people’s fears, the stories are all tightly written and intriguing, the first two equal in worthiness with the third not far behind. However, though neatly made and brilliantly acted (Hong Chau is a secret weapon. It would be a pity to not see her again), the film feels like it wraps the stories in neat little bows with nothing much further to be explored. After the magnanimity of Poor Things and its cultural impact, people might be expecting a similar feature, but it’s nothing more than a well-made, fun delivery from Lanthimos.

The perfect palette cleanser before we jump onto his next film, if you can consider his films such.