KINDS OF KINDNESS (SFF 2024)


What is it with auteurs making long films and them being ultimately disappointing?
Scorsese’s last 2 outings The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon both clocked in over the 3 hour mark (209 and 206 minutes respectively) and were quite unsatisfying.
I love Scorsese by the way, his contribution to cinema as a director and a king of restoration and general support of cinema is unparalleled. 
I loved Ari Aster’s first 2 films Hereditary (127 minutes) and Midsommar (148 minutes & 171 minutes for the director’s cut) but really didn’t like Beau is Afraid (179 minutes).
Lanthimos’ previous films: The Lobster (118 minutes) was reasonably enjoyable but The Killing of a Sacred Deer (121 minutes), The Favourite (120 minutes) and Poor Things (142 minutes) were all excellent.
Kinds of Kindness (165 minutes) was enjoyable-ish but I failed to see what the point of the film was.
I wasn’t bored at all, merely frustrated.

Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley in Kinds of Kindness

Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley in Kinds of Kindness

Spilt into three parts, The Death of R.M.F., R.M.F. is Flying and R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich and described as a triptych fable, the core group of actors featured all play different parts in the three stories.
They are all fabulous with the great Jesse Plemons winning the Best Actor Award at Cannes for his performance(s), Yorgos’s muse, the excellent Emma Stone, the always ace, Willem Dafoe, the layered and enchanting Margaret Qualley, who here has an ethereal quality, Hong Chau who is always great, Mamoudou Athie, who’s acting I rated highly from the tv show Archive 81 and Joe Alwyn, who I didn’t know of before, not being a Swiftie ;O).


I saw this at the Sydney Film Festival and the audience seemed to love it, laughing out loud at much of the film, unfortunately I didn’t click with the humour, which is a surprise as I was really looking forward to this as I was for Scorsese’s last 2 and Ari Aster’s last one.

I was left feeling excluded, maybe I’m just too dumb, but I didn’t get it.
What was Lanthimos trying to say?

The tone poem music written by Jerskin Hendrix, who also scored Poor Things to great acclaim, creates a jarring, unsettling mood with haunting voices seemingly crying in agony.
It really is something and maybe the part of the film I enjoyed or appreciated most.

Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons in Kinds of Kindness

Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons in Kinds of Kindness

The actors appeared to have a great time and the making of the film would have been highly rewarding for all involved, unfortunately it didn’t translate to this viewer.
I get it, all art is subjective and I’m defo not mad at them for making it, there is space for everything (mostly) and it’s not all for me.

For the longest time I haven’t put any reviews out for films that I didn’t like as there is too much negativity and trolling and crying online like “boo hoo, it was rubbish” but I don’t want to contribute and I hope that’s not what I’m doing here.
I am glad that these filmmakers are making the films they wish to make and maybe a repeat viewing in a few years may yield some more meaning. It wasn’t unentertaining. I just felt a bit left out.

The film paces along nicely and never seems too long or bloviated.

Don’t get it twisted, I love me a long movie. I recently watched Yi Yi, a Taiwanese film by Edward Yang that was 173 minutes and one of my all-time favourite films is Once Upon a Time in America by Sergio Leone and the last version I watched was 251 minutes and I loved every minute of it.
So, I’m not against long films in the slightest.

If there be substance, I be involved.

Margaret Qualley in Kinds of Kindness

Margaret Qualley in Kinds of Kindness

I haven’t read anything about it yet but I’m sure there are some smarter cookies than me out there all up on the inter web who can decipher the meanings. More power to them. I’ll have a read and see if my mind is changed but ultimately this one didn’t do it for me. :O(.

165 Minutes

YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME (2024)


A violent thunderstorm rages outside an isolated caravan park as a man sits alone at his table drinking in his mobile home. There is a loud knock at the door and a woman is stood there asking for help, he lets her in and this two-handed thriller begins. 
Who are these people and what are their intentions? 
Therein lies the question.

Colour me intrigued.

This film from Australian first-time feature directors, Indianna Bell (who also wrote it) and Josiah Allen (who also edited it) brings a clever psychological horror film that plays with your expectations and keeps you guessing right until the very end.

Brendan Rock in You'll Never Find Me

Brendan Rock in You’ll Never Find Me

Taking inspiration from the book of Mike Flanagan, who the directors have an admiration for, it has touches of Flanagan’s Hush to it and the pared down two-hander allows for tension, unease and suspense that relies on a taut script and some decent acting.

A lot of the heavy lifting is done by the sound design, cinematography and editing regarding the tension and the actors, Brendan Rock and Jordan Cowan are both believable, committed and grounded in their character’s experience with the use of one location, the trailer-home, adding to the claustrophobia that both characters are feeling.

Jordan Cowan in You'll Never Find Me

Jordan Cowan in You’ll Never Find Me

If you’re in the mood for an unsettling otherness, see this on a big screen in a darkened room with others. 
The tension is palpable.

You’ll Never Find Me is an ambitious debut and shows off the potential of its directors.
See it now at a cinema near you.

96 Minutes