Take a quartet of actors, have them play roles in three different, completely madcap stories. The result is this new feature film by the most famous of today’s Greek directors.
A cinema of the strange, the mad, the out of place, the deranged, the disturbing, the off the beaten track. It’s with a certain tenderness that we welcome Yórgos Lánthimos back to the Croisette, just a few months after the theatrical release of his highly successful Poor Things. In this new opus, entitled Kinds of Kindness, the Greek director invites us to witness a rather unusual triptych. These are three stories in which the same actors – including Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley and Willem Dafoe – play different roles.
However absurd and overflowing with humor the three tales that make up this nearly 2 h 45 feature-length film may seem, they are not devoid of emotion and depth. Although hemoglobin is often present, Yórgos Lánthimos is not the kind of filmmaker who tortures his characters on screen for no reason. Their violence, their sadness, their madness, always pertinently question our humanity: it’s not for nothing that this film is titled Kinds of Kindness.
Nevertheless, don’t expect to find exactly the same Lánthimos as in Poor Things. The Greek director retains his completely off-the-wall style, but his previous feature was undoubtedly a cut above in terms of narration, direction of the actors, sets and so on. In any case, Kinds of Kindness remains a fine example of a cinematic triptych, whose (long) duration is amply justified, especially as the fact that the film has been divided into three distinct parts makes it even easier to digest.
Our reporters are on the ground in Cannes, France, to bring you exclusive content from the 77th Cannes Film Festival—explore our coverage here.
