Kinds Of Kindness (2024)

A portmanteau film consisting of three individual stories that are loosely thematically connected with actors playing multiple roles: 1) A man (Jesse Plemons) religiously follows orders from his boss and possible lover (Willem Dafoe). But he has qualms when he is ordered to kill a man. 2) A policeman (Jesse Plemons) is mourning his wife (Emma Stone) who is presumed dead in a boating accident. When she is rescued and brought back, he refuses to believe she is his wife but someone pretending to be his wife. 3) A woman (Emma Stone) leaves her husband (Joe Alwyn) and child (Merah Benoit) to join a bizarre sex cult lead by a charismatic demagogue (Willem Dafoe) and his lover (Hong Chau). Her mission with the cult is to find a woman who can raise the dead. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (POOR THINGS). This weird trio of tales is right up my alley and I lapped it up. Lanthimos' pacing is slow and precise which may frustrate some but it pays off in the end. The screenplay is clever and often witty and while some may be put off by the movie's seeming enmity, I was sympathetic. Not for everyone but if you've seen Lanthimos' previous films, you know what you're in for. Plemons won the best actor award at the Cannes film festival for his performance(s) here. With Margaret Qualley, Madmoudou Athie and Hunter Schafer, all playing multiple roles.