Kinds of Kindness – Film Review
by Brian Merriman

Director – Yorgos Lanthimos
Writers – Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
Stars – Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe

The multi-award-winning Element Pictures co-produces this ‘second cousin’ of Poor Things which hopes perhaps to capitalise on the success of that film. Poor Things defied generic appeal, to please a significant portion of film buffs with many bowled over by its cinematography and design. This movie also stars Emma Stone and William Dafoe. It is a trilogy of bizarre stories all involving different plots but played by the same cast.

There are some loosely connected themes, an obsession with feet, water, weight loss and fish for example. The publicity material advises that it is absurdist and a black comedy but the task of the director and writer is to convey that onscreen and not in the press release.

There is an absence of dramatic tension and no clear story arc with an overreliance on piano chords. We see the stars in three different stories that are slightly connected in behaviour. In fact, having sat through the 164 minutes, with a little bit of additional context, episode three really has the best hope of standing alone. The last moment is the best.

The three episodes are “The Death of R.M.F,” “R.M.F is Flying,” and “R.M.F Eats a Sandwich.” Each story is macabre, silly and implausible. There are no characters to care about…and not caring for 164 minutes is quite an ask. They are not without production qualities but it is a self-indulgent piece of writing. Both Stone and Defoe are fine actors but the film relies on ‘old tricks’ to convey characters, which demeans their obvious talents. The absence of a plausible plot permeates throughout. It feels like it is constructed as a poor sequel to ‘Poor Things’ which begs the question of why that is needed, without the spectacle of the lavish fantasy design of the former.

If the weather turns unseasonably cold, you might want to spend almost three hours in the comfort of a cinema, but there is nothing here to really justify that investment that such worthy producers, writers and actors deserve. Perhaps the greatest act of kindness would be to find something more worthwhile to do with your time, as there is little here dramatically or artistically to beguile. It will, no doubt, go on to win a truckload of awards from those who get the absurdist and black comedic themes. They escaped me on this occasion.