If our world should one day cease to exist, and some improved civilization from another galaxy stumbles upon our popular culture and seeks to understand all the fuss 鈥� well, we now have the film clip they should see.
She鈥檚 not even speaking, so translating Earth language won鈥檛 be an issue. She鈥檚 simply dancing. It鈥檚 toward the end of her latest , the challenging, intriguing, perplexing-if-not-downright- infuriatingly-opaque Stone is doing an improvised victory dance, and it鈥檚 glorious. What鈥檚 clear is that the Stone-Lanthimos pairing, in their third feature together, is continuing to nurture an aspect of Stone鈥檚 talents that increasingly sets her apart: Her fearlessness and the obvious joy she derives from it.
Then again, it鈥檚 possible we especially love this scene because by now we鈥檙e parched 鈥� thirst is actually a theme of the film, but let鈥檚 forget that for a second 鈥� for a wee bit of joy. There鈥檚 barely an ounce of it in 鈥淜inds of Kindness,鈥� nor is there much beauty (unlike the gorgeous period romps many know Lanthimos best for, 鈥淭he Favourite鈥� and last year鈥檚 sumptuous 鈥淧oor Things.鈥�) Nor is there any recognizable kindness to speak of 鈥� 鈥渞ecognizable鈥� being the operative word here. Which might be the point of the title. Or not.
So what IS 鈥淜inds of Kindness鈥�? OK, here goes. Lanthimos, working for a fifth time with screenwriter Efthimis Filippou (鈥淭he Lobster鈥�), has created a triptych 鈥� three mini-films with the same cast. A solidifying troupe of Lanthimos regulars appears, with Willem Dafoe, one of the most distinctive actors in the universe, rejoining Stone鈥檚 Bella from 鈥淧oor Things,鈥� joined now by a terrific Jesse Plemons, who won the best actor prize at Cannes, as well as Hong Chau, Margaret Qualley, Mamoudou Athie and Joe Alwyn.
These three segments, which together run close to three hours, are separate stories with different characters, and an overarching theme that can best be explained by parsing the lyrics of a Eurythmics song.
鈥淪weet dreams are made of this,鈥� goes the iconic song, with which Lanthimos begins his movie. Then, more importantly: 鈥淪ome of them want to use you. Some of them want to get used by you. Some of them want to abuse you. Some of them want to be abused." Yup, all these things happen in 鈥淜inds of Kindness,鈥� a meditation on our free will and the ways we willingly forfeit it to others 鈥� in the workplace, at home, and in religion. For all these characters, something about being subjugated by someone else provides a perverse sense of comfort.
In the first segment 鈥� easily the tightest, most entertaining and impactful 鈥� our protagonist, Robert (Plemons), works for some sort of shady business run by Raymond (Dafoe), who controls everything Robert does.
And we do mean everything. What he eats, drinks, wears, where he lives with his wife 鈥� also hand-chosen for him 鈥� even what time they have sex, and whether they procreate. Raymond decides it all, and that鈥檚 fine with Robert 鈥� it even gets him cool gifts, like a smashed John McEnroe racket 鈥� until he鈥檚 asked to basically commit manslaughter.
He underperforms and is fired. Then, he becomes obsessed with getting back into his boss鈥� good graces, whatever it takes.
Stone appears 40 minutes into the movie, a cog in the same wheel. But she takes center stage in the next installment, as Liz, beloved wife of Daniel, a suburban cop (Plemons, with shorter and lighter hair). Liz, a scientist, has vanished during a sea voyage 鈥� she鈥檚 鈥渢raveled the world and the seven seas,鈥� to continue with the Eurythmics lyrics.
Finally she's rescued, and returns home to her loving husband. Loving, that is, until Daniel starts suspecting she鈥檚 not really Liz (she may also be a cannibal). She sure looks like Liz, but her shoes don't fit. Also, she likes chocolate now and can鈥檛 remember Daniel鈥檚 favorite song. So, he starts testing her, asking her to do awful things. And for some reason, she does.
We won鈥檛 spoil any of the mini-endings, though you may find they鈥檙e not really endings anyway. (If the lack of clarity in this review is annoying you, well, welcome to this movie? Should that have been an exclamation point? We鈥檙e suddenly feeling insecure even about punctuation.) But the 鈥渨hoa, what?鈥� feeling you may have at the end of the second part can鈥檛 fester, because soon we鈥檙e in a cult, where the only liquid members can drink is sanctified by the tears of creepy leader Omi (Dafoe, who else?) and wife Aka (Chau.)
Stone and Plemons reunite here as cult members tasked with finding a woman, out there somewhere, who鈥檚 able to raise the dead. For this holy search for a spiritual leader, Emily (is this a nod to Stone's real name?) has left a husband (Alwyn) and young daughter behind. She drives a purple sports car with increasing abandon (speaking of fearless, Stone has said she did much of her stunt driving). But she, too, messes up, and is left begging to be allowed back in.
Will she find what she is looking for?
Well, that depends on whether she knows what it is. Characters here actually seem to find what they THINK they seek 鈥� but it leads them, of course, down dark paths. But hey, everybody鈥檚 lookin鈥� for something, the song tells us. Not to be trite, but who are we to disagree?
In any case, seeking a neat conceptual bow to wrap this all up 鈥� as in Bella鈥檚 satisfying empowerment in 鈥淧oor Things鈥� 鈥� will lead nowhere. So maybe the best lyric we can take from the Eurythmics is the simplest one of all:
鈥淜eep your head up. Movin鈥� on."
鈥淜inds of Kindness,鈥� a Searchlight Pictures release in theaters Friday, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association 鈥渇or strong/disturbing violent content, strong sexual content, full nudity and language.鈥� Running time: 144 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press
