“Kinds of Kindness” is a dark-comedy anthology about control, car accidents, power, lust, dogs running an island, clones, chocolate, cutting off fingers, cults, water, tears, sweat, resurrection, and the seemingly ordinary man known as R.M.F. (played by Yorgos Stefanoks) who finds himself caught in the middle of it all.

The 2 hour and 45-minute anthology is long but never boring. Even the weakest entry, “R.M.F is Flying” has an amusing reveal despite the narrative’s lack of a conclusion or even an explanation for what we just saw.

The screenplay, by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou, is quirky and original. The two have worked on “The Lobster,” “Dogtooth,” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.” While the stories in “Kinds of Kindness” are unreal, each story’s subject matter demands a level of discretion adding to the verisimilitude and irony, which creates a world that feels real even if the characters never behave like actual humans.

Chapter One “The Death of R.M.F.” sees Robert (Jesse Plemons) in a total power exchange with his boss and lover Raymond (Willem Defoe). Raymond controls every aspect of Robert’s life from the time he goes to bed, to the time and frequency he sleeps with his wife Sarah (Hong Chau), even down to the socks Robert wears.

Raymond’s latest request is too great a request for Robert to comply with, resulting in the end of the 10-year relationship. Robert finds himself helpless to make his own decisions. For the first time in Robert’s life, he decides to do everything he can to find himself in Raymond’s favor again.

This opening story sets the stage for how dark, kinky, and at times humorous the stories in “Kinds of Kindness” get. Raymond’s control is presented as a matter of fact, and the idea that everyone complies adds to the comedy such as when Robert confronts Raymond. Robert says to Raymond he can’t go through with a staged car accident that will result in the death of R.M.F. Raymond will interrupt Robert to try various versions of this confrontation by asking Robert to enter the room again and deliver the news sitting down face to face only to agree that the “first take” was better and will have Robert deliver the news again standing.

The premise of this story is dark, and the black and white flashbacks highlight how sinister Raymond’s methods are to control his subjects such as having Robert drug his wife Sarah to miscarry to remain childless per Raymond’s request. Jerskin Fendrix’s ominous score creates a constant sense of dread.

Plemons’s performance is the strength of this piece. He plays Robert so perfectly pathetic yet somehow sympathetic at the same time. He asks the bartender for a drink recommendation only to ask the bartender to make the final decision between two drink options. Even hurting himself in order to recreate the conditions he met his wife.

Lanthimos reuses the cast as various characters for the rest of the movie. In chapter two “R.M.F is Flying” Plemons returns as Daniel, a man grieving the loss of his wife Liz (Emma Stone) when she is thought to be lost at sea on her latest expedition. Yet when she returns home, Daniel finds himself suspecting that the woman living with him now is not really Liz. She eats foods Liz hates, her shoes don’t fit, and her role-playing suggestions are much more aggressive. Daniel begins to test her and asks her to prove her loyalty through mutilation.

Again this story is the weakest of the three due to the lack of narrative focus, direction, and ending. The sequence played during the credits is fun, but I’d argue it’s the primary reason why Lanthimos wanted to tell this story.

Finally chapter three “R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich” story centers around Emily and Andrew’s quest to find their cult’s chosen one who is said to possess the power to resurrect people from the dead.

This was the installment I found the most comical and the most human. While on the road trying to find their Christ-like figure, Emily takes off on her own to visit the house of her estranged daughter and husband. She blesses her daughter’s room with the cult’s sacred water and tries to avoid any interaction with the two because she’s to remain wholly devoted to cult leaders Omi (Dafoe) and Aka (Chau).

The cult centers around ocean water blessed by the two leaders’ tears. There’s a strict rule that their followers can only have sex with either Omi or Aka. The leaders have a ritual in which they place anyone who is suspected as being unfaithful or “contaminated” in a sauna. Aka then licks the sweat from their abdomen in order to determine the member’s acceptance back into the cult or exile.

This story is the most focused and fleshed out; the ending which I won’t spoil is comical, cathartic, and ironic. The scene during the credits also links all the stories together.

“Kinds of Kindness” might be less than the sum of its parts. However, each individual story can be enjoyed and appreciated episodically leaving the viewer in control.

Rating: 3.5/5.

Rent or own “Kinds of Kindness” today on your favorite digital movie providers. It’s also available on home video via 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD. Kinds of Kindness is also streaming on Hulu at the time of writing.

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The writer of this piece is: Laurence Almalvez
Laurence tweets from @IL1511

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