How far would you be willing to go to be loved? Kill ? Cut your finger? Fly ? Kidnap? The characters of Kinds of Kindnessthe new film by the Greek filmmaker Lánthimos Yórgos, presented at the Cannes Film Festival and unveiled in cinemas this June 26, 2024, do just about all that. Worse still, they seem to take great pleasure in it, to the detriment of the horror that strikes the public. Return to favor of a director who, unlike his atrocious characters, does not care about being loved.
From applause to disgust
When opens Kinds of Kindnessto the hit “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics, the Cannes audience applauds in rhythm, no doubt still under the spell of the latest successes of Lánthimos Yórgos. Remember: in March 2024, its Poor Creatures was crowned at the Oscars, notably crowning Emma Stone, her favorite actress, won the title of best actress (the second of her career). Or maybe he was thinking of La Favorite, his previous feature film, which maliciously painted a vitriolic portrait of the English court of the 18th century. In reality, Kinds of Kindnesshis monstrous latest, comes closer to his horrific Killing of the sacred deerreleased in 2017 and whose questionable morality of the story seemed almost more upsetting than the obscenities staged.
From the session of Kinds of Kindness, people leave their seats, furious, annoyed, stuffed like geese with images, each one more repulsive than the last. Two hours and forty-five minutes long, and punctuated by three stories with very different narrative threads (although united by a common theme), the film flirts with total indigestion, and could have indulged in it. But no. The cold, even completely surgical staging of Lánthimos grabs us by the throat, once again. Its disturbing low-angle shots like its uneasy games of silence work on us like a magic trick – we are hypnotized by a Emma Stone electric, a Jesse Plemons with discreet charm, but terribly effective.
