Yorgos Lanthimos makes a quick return to the screen, after POOR THINGS, with KINDS OF KINDNESS, “a triptych fable” of interconnected short films that delve into the violent, unsavory, and hilariously uncomfortable parts of human nature. Stars Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Yorgos Stefanakos, take on multiple roles across the three stories, resulting in a kind of Lanthimos multi-verse that adds greater meaning to the whole. Meaning that rings the shame bell while pointing and giggling at the corrosive effects of three kinds of obsession.
I’ll confess that I appreciated KINDS OF KINDNESS as a piece of “art” because of its vibrant visuals and literary leanings … but I’m still processing my feelings. The film has a level of steroid-induced cinematic excess and multifold storytelling that aligns with Tarantino but with more depth—thematically speaking. Where Tarantino exploits the stains on humanity through epic action, Lanthimos glories in the inherent rot in humankind through his trippy poetics. However, when it comes to Lanthimos, what trips me up and pushes me back from the table is so much of what we see in KINDNESS is unnecessary and exploitative of women’s bodies. Is it gory yet funny? Yes. Is it artful and incisive? Yes. Yet, while watching, I wondered if KINDS OF KINDNESS replicates what it feels like to go insane.
Perhaps that’s why I’m writing about what I took away from the film on the artistic side, beyond my sense of dissatisfaction. For me, there are three “kinds of kindness” in this trio of shorts, written by Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou: obsession with privilege, obsessive love, and cultish religious fanaticism.
Obsession with Privilege: “The Death of R.M.F”
“The Death of R.M.F” is a stark indictment of our obsession with privilege and the lengths we will go to keep it. Or to reclaim it once it is lost. In “The Death of R.M.F”, we bear witness to the depths a man goes through to regain the privilege he lost when he stands up for what is morally right. Here we see how abuses of power can corrupt an average person, making them a minion of luxury and prestige. The protagonist’s increasingly desperate attempts to be accepted back into the upper rungs of society reveal the poisoned underpinnings of societal structures and how status breeds obsession. When a person is driven by comfort, their morals can erode and often disappear; leaving them ready to commit heinous acts they once thought themselves incapable of.
Obsessive Love: “R.M.F. is Flying”
In “R.M.F. is Flying”, we find ourselves immersed in the tale of a policeman after his wife returns from being missing-at-sea, but she appears to be a different person. Here Lanthimos and co-writer Filippou speak to obsessive love. They use blood and comedy to illustrate the ways true love will always recognize its mate, but also the cruel and destructive potential of love when it is co-dependent. Or when it’s sought after but rejected. This tale explores the toxicity of obsession and the duality of love in its ability to heal or harm—frequently both, depending on where you stand in the equation.
Religious Fanaticism: “R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich”
In the final tale, “R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich”, we encounter a woman who is determined to attain spiritual fulfillment through a quest to find another woman—a culmination of Mother Mary and Jesus—who is “destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader.“ From the outset, it’s clear we are dealing with a cult. In this context, Lanthimos and Filippou push us to question religious fanaticism. Their exploration is intriguingly focused—not on whether God or miracles are real—but on the ways the faithful can weaponize belief and thus be corrupted by power. Eventually dismantling the very good they claim to worship.
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And there they are. The Three Kinds of Kindness—three types of obsessions, rooted in the abuse of power and the corruption of privilege, desire, and faith.
