So Kinds Of Kindness was a pretty crazy film. The three stories connect thematically and there is a hidden meaning for the character of RMF. I breakdown the whole of Yorgos Lanthimos' latest film.
Did anyone else pick up on the eating disorder themes throughout all three stories? To me they were very obvious. Weight gain and weight loss was mentioned several times throughout
Gaining control over somebody by telling the person what to eat and not to eat is a theme I think. Same as telling somebody who they can or can not sleep with and whether or not to have babies. Also bi-sexual relations and sex and intimacy as a way to bind or reward someone is a theme. It is through giving rules for eating, sexual relations, reproduction that religions form comunities and strengen the love, dedication and surrender of the people. This dedication leads people to do horrible things, when they think it is asked from them.
@@thedavidjscott_it's a movie about crazy people, everyone was crazy in this movie. Crazy people do all kinds of weird things with food, refuse to eat or eat too much or eat weird things or in weird ways
I certainly noticed how many scenes there were with food and drinking - preparing food, talk of being hungry and refusing to eat. I didn't pick up on the weighing of people although did wonder why this was incorporated here and there, and at the same time, did notice conversations regarding weight loss and weight gain.
I found the scene where Plemons explains to Hong Chau that her husband and his wife are not who they appear to be hilarious. Her expression during this scene said it all.
@@Heavilybased its an absurd film, its not supposed to make any sense. people apparentely watch such movies just for the sake of their absurdity. after it ended i felt that thats the most absurd movie ive ever seen, wanted to laugh and also many times during it
@@dreamthedream8929 idk if it’s worth arguing with you because you keep saying the same things over & over like a broken record. But the video we’re commenting on explained the connecting themes pretty well although I don’t think you’d care to watch it or examine the themes
Certainly, overlapping themes reappear in all three stories. Relationships of subservience between employee and employer, husband and wife, and cult leader and follower show how power controls individuals in numerous ways, and how we WANT/NEED that control to define us. All the characters loss their sense of self and needed "the other" to realize them. A wonderfully sad fable of human nature in an authoritarian world. Bravo!!!
Even though I was like 'WTF is going on?' for like every scene of the film, it was somehow engaging to me and watched the whole film and I am not even that deep of a cinephile. 😭
In the 2nd Act, Jesse was a kind husband to Emma before she went missing. When Emma came back, she remembers Jesse’s kindess to her and she’s willing to go above and beyond to return the kindness. She’s even willing to defend him to her father, Willem who called him a monster. And not to mention carve herself up for Jesse. Just like in her dream where dogs and people switched places, Emma’s kindness to her absuive husband showed parallel to people being kind to dogs. Dogs are only kind to people feeding them, and people are kind to dogs for love, company, and loyalty. Emma treated her husband like a confused and lost dog, hoped that if she continued to feed him, he’ll love her again. The whole movie is about the destructive kind of kindness in the Workplaces, Relationships, and Religions.
I found the 2nd act the most confusing. There's an unreliable narrator on both sides, and I can't tell who is the real villain. Supposedly Liz ate her colleagues on the island, came back and Jesse thinks she's not herself and begins to abuse her. At the same time, he tells the psychiatrist that she punched herself in the face and belly, causing a miscarriage, and the shrink seems totally nonplussed, or even ignores that information completely. Then Liz tells her doctor about the abuse as if it was Jesse who did it, but then refuses to allow the doctor to alert the authorities. It doesn't make any sense.
Saw it on The Fourth Of July and I thought the insane sound design had random muted thud sounds throughout the movie just like the cat walking across a piano and the ominous moans and chants...Turns out it was fireworks continously going off outside. When I went to the parking lot there were the most fireworks that I have ever seen going off at once. Every single direction I looked there were HUGE explosions. It was very surreal and hilarious! The whole experience was fantastic.
I find the RMF character to be the connecting tissue of the entire narrative... as in, the entire film is RMF's fever dream, or a "bardo", however, the film has no physical evidence to suggest this, as there is no independent scene with RMF, RMF is always interacting with the main players of each narrative and he doesn't speak at all, if I remember correctly. It's as if your seeing all this take place inside RMF, and he does find satisfaction by the end when in the post credit scene he eats a sandwich. The film does open with RMF driving listening to Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) by Eurythmics and ends with RMF awake, eating a sandwich...
@@halahalahala2015 You can say he is awaken from eternal sleep...the film does play with visual motifs of crashed cars, hospitals, hotels, self inflicting wounds (hesitation wounds?)...I feel this film has so many connections to the literary world of JG Ballard and the last three films of Luis Bunuel ("The discreet charm of the bourgeois", "The phantom of liberty" and "that obscure object of desire") the characters are not inhibited by their desires and act upon their ID, there is a certain atavism that makes this film very humanistic ...from personal experience, there are people who behave likes these characters...so its, kinda of funny, but also tragic, as the unawareness of their actions leads to their tragic existence, but in dark absurdist manner.
Yes! I can go deeper into this and ofc there are other things going on. but generally I saw the First story as the story where we see RMF’s Death, the second is this transitory fever dream of ,what I imagine, is the passing from this life to the afterlife/whTever. The 3rd story is us seeing that process being interrupted anyway and he’s resurrected/awakened
What about the beginning of the film where RMF gets his picture taken as proof that his shirt is not stained but it is stained at the end of the film when he eats a sandwich. Thoughts?
It was “bad embroidery” that caused her to misread the initials on RMF’s shirt, causing Raymond to question her eyesight. She had to send Raymond the pic to show him the low quality embroidery, establishing his extreme level of scrutiny and conditional approval, at least that’s how I read it.
He had been brought back to life. Its a uniform, and a new day, not a timeloop. What I want to know is why were the stories in the order they were? RMF is killed in episode one, is a pilot in episode two, and dead again in episode 3. Wouldnt the more logical order be 2-1-3? ie, living, killed, brought back to life? also, jesus?
It’s definitely three short films with some common themes put together to make a feature. Little about the moments in the film or the performance or dialogue feels like anything other than what Yorgos Lamthimos does. Definitely not Black Mirror.
I absolutely loved the movie and me and my friend went and were literally the only 2 people in the entire theatre. it was an amazing experience to witness this triptych of insanity. It's very much about devotion for the fear of change, and im sure that can be rephrased and mean the same thing in a lot of ways. This was the best movie ive seen in a long time, and I really had no idea what was coming next because it was so absurd from beginning to end
It truly was insane, movie filled with all sorts of crazy people. The kinds that the police has to deal with all the time. Probably the most nonsensical movie that I have ever seen
There were two couples in the theater with me when the movie started, one of the couples split about 2/3 of the way through. I loved it. I enjoyed it more than Pretty Things. My favorite Yorgos Lanthimos movie is still, and may always be, Dogtooth. Check it out if you haven't yet.
Hi! First of all, your analysis of the film dives deep into what is offered on the screen. A lot of your thoughts match with mine, beside the meaning of R.M.F. - For me he is the one kind of a man who is willing to give up EVERYTHING for a change in his life. He is willing and brave enough to die, because of the believe and knowledge of universal life circuit, that is carried by life itself, as long his decisions are made by himself ( individuality ). In the 2nd story R.M.F. flies - he is the allies of liz - who had the change of personal change within an life-threatening event. R.M.F. Is on her side, the side of the ones who are connected more to their self, then their ego, which is force for all pattern based relationships. In the last episode R.M.F. becomes the reward for his courage in story one. Life is a miracle and full of wonders. He was willing to die, because of the faith in the force of life, and now he becomes a second chance, living a normal life eating burgers, behaving relaxed with what life offers him.
First film= killing sacred deer vibes Second film = lobster vibes (how far will you go to prove to someone who abuses you and beats u up that u still love them) Third film =alps 2011 vibes (cult or group going around trying to find the next messiah who will raise people from the dead). This film is cornucopia of lanthimos films same as French dispatch for Wes Anderson. If French dispatch was Wes Anderson most Wes anderson-y… this is the same for YORGOS and if ur on Vibe with it it’s amazing if ur not….. sorry.
Just watched. U think the whole idea of this movie is to feel confused after with no understanding where reality is, like after gaslighting or abusive relationships...
I love Yorgos and his way of storytelling and characters. It just shows how you can add bizarre concepts with original storyteling , like Ari Aster for example ❤
Some people obviously hate it, but i found this movie to be the most ‘romantic’ Yorgos Lanthimos movie. The acts of ‘kindness’ that someone can go through to prove your love. Also love how it is deeply cynical, and how the endings of each stories can snap you back into reality after watching it, reminds me on how infatuating toxic relationships can be, and how easy it is to be lost in such toxic relationships. Most of his films, the watchers feels like alien at the beginning of the movie, and slowly understanding the world he crafted and becoming citizen of yorgos’ world at the end of the movie. But in this movie, I feel like watching aliens throughout the movie, but in the process learn what it means to be human, and I find something beautiful in that, and I cant get this movie out of my mind.
It's been a very long time since a movie has had such an impact on me. I saw it days ago and continually think of how scenes pieced together. The movie is really long, but I'd totally watch it again. It kept me on my toes and even made me laugh at how absurd it was. Would recommend!
the question i have is why does every yt commentator is saying the relationships are toxic. the trick is they WANT to be controlled. like, i kept thinking when robert stole the rmf dude from the hospital that he's investigating what's going on with the whole scheme, but it turned out he just wanted to get back under the wing of his boss. i feel the director's main theme, just like in poor things, is religion. it's the controlling relationship with god all the characters crave, and they all fear freedom the most.
He's kind of a weird guy, Yorgos. Some influence from David Lynch in here. Great performances. I love Emily's funny little face...The Dio song, Rainbow in the Dark, was a definite highlight...Listen to the first two Dio albums. They're fantastic. 🤘
I absolutely loved the three stories. Although feel I need to re watch it a couple more times for all the bits I missed! Brilliant acting, superb colours and locations not to mention the stunning properties used throughout. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the next surprise! Emma Stone's performance was utterly mesmerizing. She contorts her face into many expressions and can look beautiful and scary at the same time.
Some people say the stories portray the relationship we have with faith. The overbearing boss that controls every aspect of Robert's life could be viewed as a god. The husband doesn't recognize his wife until she sacrifices her life for him (Jesus was more popular after death too). And then there's the third one which may be more about institutions.
I completely agree. It’s very biblical in the sense that in each story, there is a God who demands a sacrifice from the main character to prove their love. Raymond’s request was mild compared to God instructing Abraham to cut the throat of his son to prove his faith. This is an element in many religions: give up the self to get to the promised land. Keep in mind that I’m a Catholic who believes in all this stuff, but it’s undeniably a factor in religion. The director seems to be saying that it is a fundamental part of human nature to want to give over freedom to find peace, or maybe that there is a kind of freedom in subservience, a freedom from having to make decisions all the time and freedom from responsibility.
It was a religious allegory. The first story shows how important, caring and loving God (Dafoe) is, in the conditions you follow his testament. And how destructive and empty his absence can be for you, if you don’t follow his will. But he is also forgiving if you repent and continue living by his commandments. The second story is about faith. Plemons never stop believing that his real wife is still alive somewhere. He didn’t give up on that believe and with the power of his faith, which made him so sure of what he is doing is righteous, he succeeded bringing her back. The third one is about righteousness itself. Stone wasn’t righteous so she was cast out from the cult. And her actions that followed proved that she never was. No matter of your believes, if you don’t follow the canon you don’t belong among true and righteous believers.
This film is definitely not a bad film. And I don’t mind understanding it. There more things I refuse understanding like the wars in the 21st century and the developed democratic enlightened world not having balls to stop that. However I fully buy in the explanation around needing abuse and harassment to be happy, well for some people. The film is the reflection of the world which has clearly gone mad recently. Well, I need to pause watching Yorgos’ films. There is enough madness around here on planet. And certainly, thank you very much for your review. It did help me and my husband mapping up things out to what we have seen…just got back home from the movies. BTW, in our small provincial town in the middle of the Netherlands no-one has left during the screening… it’s a university town, that’s why must be
I loved this movie. I feel like audiences have been coddled for far too long with simple narratives, cliches, happy endings, and tropes. If people are upset by the movie, THATS A GOOD THING! It shows that the film is doing something different and doing so for the sake of art, not just entertainment.
I saw this a few days ago and felt exactly the same. Also, all throughout the film I was analysing everything, because I felt like nothing was done by accident, everything was done on purpose. Every camera angle, color theme, set design, everything. This is a movie for people who LOVE FILM AND FILMMAKING. Exceptional
@@Overproof9106this was a movie about crazy people, everyone in the movie was crazy. The kinds of people that the police has to deal with all the time
I agree! His movies are not created for lazy, narrow-minded thinkers. He enjoys entertaining those who enjoy working their minds at a higher level to understand the esoteric.
as much as i love some of his works this was torture. if a movie is so much into symbolic language you have to uncover and analize it becomes exhausting quite fast.
Why would you exhaust your mind? Simply watch the movie and then analyze, with this kind of films most things are up for interpretation. I think people are used to all the answers and themes needs to be explained within the art, specially with movies. Sometimes having to put more thought into something it's okay and more meaningful. Film can be symbolic, absurd and cryptic too, there's Lynch, there's Kauffman, even Kubrick. Train your mind.
@@yvesmaker people work in different ways. i prefer logic-it can be absurd like the favourite or lobbster but still needs a story you can follow. thats why i also don't like lynch and others who work in the same way. I can't enjoy a movie when i don't know what the heck is going on. It's like a puzzle you can't solve cauze of many missing pieces. frustrating. life is frustrating enough. don't need to frustrate me more with depressive absurdity.
What was RMF picking up from the dafoes house in the beginning? Why did he have to die? What threat did he pose? Is he lifes simple joys? This movie was crazy, really could be about anything.
Daniel never actually consumes human flesh. He says he fed Liz' finger to the cat, adding to Liz the reasoning that her finger was "disgusting". Her liver just sits on the floor, not being eaten at all. I have heard the theory that this involves fairy lore, as you aren't supposed to eat any of their food, and the cat stops being hostile to Liz after eating the finger.
When Daniel is on patrol with his partner and shoots the drunk guy, he starts licking the wound and trying to drink the blood out, while you’re right about the finger I think this was the more revealing scene.
Love the analysis and interpretation! I also thought RMF connected to the title in a bit of an absurd way, as he's either receiving or offering kindness in each story (dying per his request, delivering the rescued Liz and being brought back to life).
Film 3 brings to light so much of what is emerging in the Pentecostal Church with Robert Morris and Zachary King and Mike Bickle’s victims being blamed for the abuse perpetrated upon them
Thank you very much for your very informative breakdown of KOK. I’ve just watched it in the cinema and thought it was very good. I find it difficult to concentrate on films sometimes, but this one kept me gripped until the end and really forced me to think. Although the final segment did leave me scratching my head, your video has pieced together the final pieces of the puzzle. Bravo sir! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I try to like Yorgos Lanthimos films and have given them a chance. I appreciate their uniqueness, and I see what hes going for with his surrealism, but I find them boring. I can't watch them all the way through. His characters lack charisma. Everything is quiet and strange. And there's no real plot, but random things weird happening with no later explanation. They're not movies with a traditional narrative. It's like looking at a painting and trying to deduce what the artist is trying to communicate with it.
Great breakdown I loved this movie I found it very unique and interesting Yorgos Lanthimos is a director to keep an eye on I liked poor things more though
@TheDrakGP I don't know how you didn't manage to get what I mean, it's really not that complicated of a comment. 12 others seemed to get it, so I'm sure you can.
This film is like doing a rosarch test in a fever dream. I think thays why so many people see so many themes, because they are so broad and not defined. Im not even halfway through and i pulled this video up to watch after...actually i did it 8 minutes in 😂
The ending shows we can't control the outcome? The movie constantly shows us Emily's reckless driving to emphsize it WAS her fault for the accident. She could totaly control her fate, had she been mire carefull.
The 2nd story doesn't make any sense to me. Why did he tell the doctor about Liz "punching herself in the belly and face," and why wouldn't the doctor be alarmed by this report? Either, that he was lying, or that he was telling the truth, either case would have to be investigated if not immediately reported to the police. The whole narrative is extremely perplexing, especially when the "real" Liz supposedly shows up after the doppelganger dies trying to cut out her own liver. Am I to understand that the doctor is taken in by his gaslighting? If we are supposed to see it as a parallel to real life, this isn't the 1950's; for the most part cops and doctors automatically take the woman's side and the "hysterical female" trope isn't the usual thing anymore in DV cases where the husband just gets to walk. In fact, there are many, many cases where the female is the abuser and she gets away with it. This narrative seems oddly anachronistic. The only thing that rings true is that cops are well known to be domestic abusers at much higher rates than average.
they marketed this movie as a fun experience playing the song Sweet Dream are made of this (song usually used for Xmen movies) with modern day, flashy cars etc. so when I started watching the movie I had this notion subconsciously, thinking maybe Yorgos exploring something else ?
I am not agreeing with the word 'redemption'. Vivian thinks that 'R' is manipulated: It should be a 'B'! Two words which are like to two sides of a coin, started with R&B, not rhythm and blues, not rich and broke, something else. WHAT YOU THINK?
although the cast was full of amazing actors, a lot of the performances felt kinda stiff. It might just be how YL likes to add a surreal feeling to dialogue (like Wes Anderson) Was still very entertained tho lol
I think you’re misinterpreting the meaning of second story. It’s not about an abusive husband. That’s a misdirect. The reveal at the end is that the woman pretending to be Liz is in fact an imposter. And Daniel was right all along. And he knew it from the moment she returned because anyone in a long term relationship would know it wasn’t their real partner. That’s why her shoes didn’t fit and the cat was scared of her. And why she didn’t know his favorite song, etc etc. Daniel asked the imposter to leave because he knew it wasn’t his real wife but she refuses. Meanwhile the real Liz keeps calling him on the phone so the imposter takes it away. Daniel eventually asks the imposter to cut off her finger to prove that she is not his real wife. Because he knows it’s something his real wife would never do. But the imposter wants to prove her love and keep up the charade so she does what he asks. Then he knows for sure. Asking her to cut out her liver is his way of killing off the imposter so his real wife can return. And she does. The moral of the second story is that blind devotion and “acts of kindness” or acts of service that involves self-destructive behavior to appease one’s partner is not a sign of a normal human caring relationship. Nor is it real love or anything that your partner will respect or appreciate. We love our partners for who they are as individuals and not just because they try to make us happy. That’s why when Daniel opens the door to the real Liz, they instantly embrace because he knows it’s the real Liz without question. The imposter didn’t know what real love was and thus Daniel knew it wasn’t his real wife.
Brilliant film and brilliant interpretation. Thank you for stopping my head from spinning and allowing me to more fully enjoy what I feel is quite genius filmmaking - which we could use more of!
So, I just finished watching it, and this is hands down one of the worst films I have ever seen. I am AMAZED at the accolades it is getting. I came here to see what exactly I am missing. I'm not convinced I missed anything. It's just a really bad movie.
Saw this yesterday and found it interesting and quite enjoyable. I can’t say the same about Poor Things though. The amount of sex scenes was overpowering with often zero enhancement to the story.
A lot of sex in this movie as well, there was a sex priest and then friends watching sex movie they made. Basically it was important to have sex in all three of those movies
For some reason the R.M.F. guy felt more like the random neutral person on standby that gets affected by every main character’s selfish decisions. The result of how he turns out may simply be a byproduct of everyone else’s actions, like a before and after.
I liked the explanation by Reddit guy for RMF initials, in conjunction, or combined, with the directors vague explanation. LOL at the bottom of Reddit post,,, becuz I thought from the opening scenes it stood for Real Muther Fucker. ALSO RMF only listening to Eurythmic’s ‘Sweet Dreams’,, coincidence? I think not - the lyrics sum up the movie perfectly.
Reminds me a bit of the movie Dark City, but with a spiritual sense. The same ppl playing different roles, as if to say, we dont really die, we just come back in different bodies, or the same. Sometimes, often times within the same timeframe, reincarnation is bigger than we think. Is life an experiment? Are we helping God interact with Himself because we are Him? Watched Poor Things after this. The themes of freedom and fighting control are something this director is trying to get across. Also, with how going across your own boundaries and limitations brings enlightenment, but doing it with awareness and not addiction.
I didn't much like "Poor Things" but I do like "The Lobster" and" Killing of a Sacred Dear." "Kinds of Kindness" gets back what I liked about his previous films (Before "Poor Things") and while at first it confused me, as I have more time to think about it I steadily like it more and more and I'm glad I saw it.
I think you nailed this perfectly. I also felt the the main theme are abusive relationships. The only problem with this movie is a delivery. It is stern, not fun to watch, and some scenes are completely unnecessary... and by that I don't mean the animal cruelty but rather for example - measuring of a gap between tits? I know that Yorgos is all about being absurd and surreal but some things just felt exploitative.
Some people obviously hate it, but i found this movie to be the most ‘romantic’ Yorgos Lanthimos movie. The acts of ‘kindness’ that someone can go through to prove your love. Also love how it is deeply cynical, and how the endings of each stories can snap you back into reality after watching it, reminds me on how infatuating toxic relationships can be, and how easy it is to be lost in such toxic relationships. Most of his films, the watchers feels like alien at the beginning of the movie, and slowly understanding the world he crafted and becoming citizen of yorgos’ world at the end of the movie. But in this movie, I feel like watching aliens throughout the movie, but in the process learn what it means to be human, and I find something beautiful in that, and I cant get this movie out of my mind.
I do not know if these are random connections or if they can actually relate: 1. The first story of death and a third act of resurrection that even imply a messiah (Is he trying to mock the story of Christ as an objective because of absurdity? 3 acts, 3 days until the resurrection, the first act of death? an omniscient figure among the 3 identifying with an acronym RMF that we don't know what means but maybe imitating that Christ was also related to an acronym INRI?. Also, the ubiquitous theme of misinterpreted/misguided kindness, each related to some kind of selflessness motivated by love. That would also be a critique. RMF allows to be killed almost as in Jesus with Pontious ¡and for money¡. These are random thoughts since I can't remember the whole Christian story and do not know what is symbolism or nonsensical absurdity in the movie e.g. What Raymond considered art in the first act beyond the fact that they were tokens of approval (was it a reference to something? why choose Ana Karenina? Is it some sort of reference? ......... well any thoughts?
Kinds of Kindness was much better and deeper than Poor things. I am shocked that although you understand it so well to make a video about it you still didn't enjoy it as much
How can RMF be in control of his own FATE when he is getting run over TWICE? But, your explanations of the three segments make sense. I felt a little dizzy trying to figure things our myself. So Thank You. For ME though, a complex plot with a tight and tidy tie-it-all-together conclusion is best ( see The Lawnmower Man). These ACTORS are AMAZING. And I just love Emma Stone dancing. 💃
Can anyone comment on why all the side characters and supporting characters in the middle Cop film happened to be black people? It was very prominent to me but i cant understand if there is something deeper about it?
Despite some reviews I liked this movie, the three stories had a common thread of seeking validation, and being subservient. The director was right to use the composer from Poor Things.
