“Sweet Dreams are Made of These” plays perhaps ironically in the opening of Yorgos Lanthimos’ new and unnerving film “Kinds of Kindness,” which premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.
Lanthimos, recently recognized for Oscar winners “Poor Things” and “The Favourite,” creates three disturbingly dark stories whose absurdity at times, tips into humor.
Lanthimos and co-writer Efthimis Filippou, who have collaborated four times before, create a complicated screenplay with stream-of-consciousness editing and a haunting score that gets under your skin.
The meaning of the film’s triptych of cold-hearted fables remains out of reach, as does what defines kindness. Although each vignette is its own story, the main actors — including Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, and Mamoudou Athie — appear as different characters in all three.
There are loose thematic connections across the stories, such as control around food, the ability or not to have children, and the meaning of bizarre dreams. But most prominent is the issue of control, who has it, who rebels against it, and the consequences of decisions related to it.
At the beginning of the first piece, “Death of RMF,” we meet a mysterious, nonspeaking, anonymous man, only identified by his initials, who appears as an unexplained leif motif throughout the film. The narrative centers on the corporate lackey Robert (Plemons) desperately trying to break free from his dictator boss (Dafoe), who controls every minuscule aspect of his life and, who, on a whim, puts Robert’s loyalty to the ultimate test. His refusal causes Robert’s life to fall apart, forcing him to consider making a devil’s bargain.
Plemons is Daniel, a middle-class police officer in “RMF is Flying.” He is inconsolably bereft at his wife Liz’s (Stone) supposed death by drowning after a boat accident while on a research trip. She is miraculously saved, surviving on a remote Island while all but one colleague die. Liz’s return turns sour as her new bizarre behavior makes Plemons sure she is not his real wife. Although treated for “persecutory delusion,” Daniel is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, but with serious consequences.
In “RMF Eats a Sandwich,” we are dropped into some mysterious cult where Emily (Stone) and Andrew (Plemons), at the behest of their controlling guru, Omi (Dafoe), search for an extraordinary, mystical woman prophesied to become a renowned spiritual guide gifted with the special ability to raise the dead.
Both the individual fables and the film as a whole remain elusive. Ultimately, the “Kinds of Kindness” keeps you guessing and thinking “what kinds of kindness” even as the last credits roll.
“Kinds of Kindness” plays at the M.V. Film Center on July 26 and 28. For additional dates, tickets, and information, visit mvfilmsociety.com/2024/07/kinds-of-kindness.
