Establishing a parallel between the careers of Yorgos Lanthimos and David Bowie may seem peculiar, but it isn’t completely absurd. An articulate argument can suggest the correlation between this atypical trilogy and Bowie’s infamous 1988 project, Tin Machine. Notwithstanding, Lanthimos is perceived with a dominating command unlike Bowie during his declining phase. His latest significant victories, Poor Things and The Favourite, have gained considerable acclaim from critics, cinema buffs, and the academy awards committee. Contrarily, it’s tough to argue Bowie revisited his initial music style, perhaps he preferred Iggy Pop’s sound. Nevertheless, the sense of a laudable artist reviving the essentials with dubious outcomes is palpable in both scenarios.
Lanthimos’ latest endeavour indeed reminds us of his initial works from Greece. Joining hands with his co-writer Efthimis Filippou after a seven-year gap since The Killing of a Sacred Deer, he delivers another austere and unwavering film, reminiscent of their 2009 blockbuster, Dogtooth. Interestingly, the film also echoes British horror anthologies of the 60s like Asylum and The House that Dripped Blood.
Moreover, the prime cast, some familiar faces from Poor Things, reunite for a trilogy set in a New Orleans location that cynically could pass for any unspecific American metropolitan in a warmer state. Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, and Willem Dafoe comprise the central crew, and noteworthy performances by Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, and Joe Alwyn further buttress the film. Though the performances are interconnected, they essentially depict three unique episodes with a signature undertone of peculiarity.
The film’s structure lends significance to side characters portrayed by Yorgos Stefanakos. In The Death of RMF, Plemons finds himself under the tyrannical command of Dafoe’s boss character. The second chapter RMF Is Flying, a far-fetched variant of the 1963 Doris Day’s film Move Over Darling, paints a frantic Plemons concerned that his wife, inevitably played by Stone, has inexplicably transformed after she resurfaces from being lost at sea. Lastly, the third and arguably the weakest and most elongated part, RMF Eats a Sandwich, chronicles Stone and Plemons on the pursuit of a necromancer as part of a cult presided over by none other than Dafoe.
The technological aspects of the work adhere strictly to fundamental principles. Robbie Ryan, an Irish cinematographer, famed for his Oscar nominations for both The Favourite and Poor Things, employs a straightforward peculiar style that daringly excludes portions of the actors which are typically kept clearly in view. It would be hard to assert that any of the performances fall short. Dafoe, exercising his domineering role, somewhat resembles a child endowed with malevolent powers in a Twilight Zone installment. Plemons, awarded the best actor at Cannes, turns out to be a perfect match for the more stringent Lanthimos style: bewildered yet compliant to the nightmarish scenario enveloping him.
For a significant part of the initial episode, the sequence accomplishes what is anticipated. Classic Lanthimosian concepts of dominance and obedience unravel in a setting familiar with limitless types of bizarre brutality. Fingers get chopped off. A seeming rape transpires backstage. The edgy music score by Jerskin Fendrix plunges us deeper into the mounting wickedness.
Nevertheless, as the series draws out longer (and it certainly does), it becomes increasingly challenging to keep track of the expanding narrative. A key success factor of the Greek movies by Filippou and Lanthimos lay in their rigorous discipline. While Dogtooth offered a disconcerting shift from reality, it followed strict and unwavering guidelines. Eventually, Kinds of Kindness collapses into a fizzing, clattering jumble of somewhat good concepts. Any three of these could, given considerable refinement, transform into the foundation for a single efficient feature. Evidently, it is the creation of gifted individuals, but it ultimately offers little in return for your patience, other than an intense headache. Not dissimilar to Tin Machine.
Kinds of Kindness will hit theatres starting Friday, June 28th.