Kinds of Kindness

Conclusion

Kinds of Kindness is made up of a triad of short films all cast with the same ensemble group of actors. And they are, without a doubt, fearlessly dedicated to their craft. Each one immerses himself or herself in their given roles with a fevered passion.

These men and woman are so zealous in their thespian expressions, in fact, that you may watch this odd cinematic concoction and actually be tempted to think there’s some hidden artistic meaning behind the inscrutable mix. I mean, it’s comparable to a modern painter passionately smearing feces on a canvas. That must have some meaning behind it, right?

Sometimes, however, it’s just feces.

The three gossamer-thread connected plays are designed to shock as they careen between bizarre, absurd and openly perverse imagery. There’s sadism; murder; pornographic coupling; cannibalism; suicide; drug-induced rape; foul profanity; and a whole lot of insane people in this collection of scenes.

In fact, you could say that every character in this absurdist movie is completely unhinged by the controlling corruptions in the world around them. And perhaps that’s the true link between all three short films: The twisted nature of a godless world.

Given writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos success with last year’s Best Picture winner Poor Things (another extremely explicit movie starring Emma Stone), many people may well find themselves exposed to yet another dose of this director’s deep infatuation with macabre sensuality. But Lanthimos’ latest film contains, frankly, no kindness for audiences.