The director of “Poor Creatures”, “The Lobster” and “The Favorite” presented his latest film at the Cannes Film Festival this Friday, May 17. We saw it, here is our review.
Fan of cruel comedies, you will be served. This Friday, May 17, Yorgos Lanthimos presented his latest film, Kinds of Kindness, at the Cannes Film Festival. Just a few months after conquering Hollywood with Poor creatures, the Greek filmmaker seems to want to return to his first love, namely dark tales with black humor and many oddities. Here, the director constructs a fable about obsession, emotional dependence and control in a triptych which follows three different stories, with the same actors (Emma StoneJesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, Willem Dafoe).
We prefer to warn from the outset, Kinds of Kindness will be far from pleasing everyone. Yorgos Lanthimos returns to the provocative black comedy of his beginnings, and pulls no punches. This fable is sometimes absurd, sometimes perverse, often disturbing, sometimes very funny, the balance on which the director strikes is maintained but perfectly controlled. This is thanks to impeccable staging and excellent actors, led by Jesse Plemons who, once again, succeeds in winning over the audience by playing very problematic characters.
Kinds of Kindness has undeniable qualities. But perhaps wanting to make a film in three was too much, certainly the subject lacks depth or poetry. Because despite his strengths, at the end of the day, Yorgos Lanthimos makes a lot of noise about not much. We can’t help but come away from the session saying to ourselves that there were good moments and good ingredients, but that the whole thing is ultimately very very futile, even boring in the long run. The French public will be able to discover Kinds of Kindness June 26, 2024 on the big screen.
Synopsis – Kinds of Kindness is a triptych fable that follows: a man without choices who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman worried because his wife who disappeared at sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a very specific person with a special power, destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader.