In the wake of their astounding success at the 96th Academy Awards with “Poor Things,” director Yorgos Lanthimos and actress Emma Stone are preparing to delve into the enigmatic and emotionally complex world of their upcoming movie “Kinds of Kindness.” Set for a captivating summer release on June 21st, 2024, the film promises to enthrall audiences with an anthology that weaves together intricate narratives, much like the very fabric of human interconnectedness the title suggests.
“Kinds of Kindness,” a movie rife with anticipation, is yet another testament to the transformative power of Yorgos Lanthimos’s directorial vision and Emma Stone’s remarkable talent. This intriguing ensemble cast, highlighted by the star-studded presence of Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Hunter Schafer, is poised to deliver performances that may well redefine their careers and captivate cinema-goers worldwide.
With an air of secrecy veiling the intricate plot, distribution giant Searchlight Pictures has sparked a mounting buzz within the industry. The screenplay, co-written by Lanthimos and his perennial writing partner Efthimis Filippou, with whom he has crafted such avant-garde narratives as “The Lobster” and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” promises to offer an indefinable experience, blurring the lines between the surreal and the painfully real. Filming took place in the unique atmosphere of New Orleans, adding an imbued sense of place and time that is certain to contribute to the film’s allure.
This film marks the fifth project that Lanthimos and Stone have worked on together, a pair that history will likely remember for their paradigm-altering contributions to the cinematic arts. Their previous project, “Poor Things,” carved a niche in the annals of film history, meriting Stone her second Academy Award for Best Actress. The film did not stop there, accumulating a total of four Oscars, including Best Production Design, Best Hair & Makeup, and Best Costume Design.
Emma Stone, reflecting on the dynamic nature of her work with Lanthimos, shared, “Yorgos feels like a lot of his process of working with people or putting people in his films has to do with who they are as a person. It’s not just performance-based.” This insight offers a glimpse into Lanthimos’s method, one which seeks to encapsulate the essence of a person, allowing the characters to unfold in a narrative space that is both honest and intriguingly complex.
Even as “Kinds of Kindness” beckons audiences with the promise of another masterwork, discussions are already afoot for what will be their sixth movie collaboration, a remake of the South Korean fantasy-comedy “Save the Green Planet.” Such an endeavor suggests that Lanthimos and Stone are far from complacent, continuing to explore diverse and ground-breaking avenues within the narrative landscape.
“Kinds of Kindness” is poised to emerge as a significant cultural and cinematic event, one that could potentially redefine the nature of anthology films. With its accomplished cast and the proven prowess of its writer-director team, the film looks to be not merely a collection of stories, but a constellation of human experiences, bound together by a shared thematic exploration of the virtues and vagaries of kindness.
As a testimony to the evolving language of cinema, and to the uniquely collaborative spirit of Lanthimos and Stone, “Kinds of Kindness” stands on the precipice of release, ready to unveil its mysteries and assured in its potential to resonate deeply with audiences and critics alike. In its fusion of talent and its promise of unparalleled storytelling, the film could well usher in a new paradigm for what audiences can expect from the assemblage of talent within the silver screen’s ethereal glow.
