After finding immaculate success with Poor Things and The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos returns with Kinds of Kindness. The plot of the film is quite bizarre; it tells the story of a man, where three stories revolve around him that are loosely connected with his life. You would either love or hate the movie.
However, it’s the star-studded cast featuring names like Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe that makes the project so intriguing to watch. The film itself delved into a high degree of absurdity and human vulnerability that showcased the director’s out-of-the-box vision.
Emma Stone was taken by surprise, when the film decided to use the footage for the dance scene. However, when the scene went viral on the internet, it exceeded her expectations.
Emma Stone Was Flabbergasted Over Her Improvised Dance Scene Going Viral
Just like his other films, Yorgos Lanthimos has also attempted to do something unique with his Kinds of Kindness. He embedded three films within one, together telling the story of a man breaking free of his predetermined path.
While the film felt too different from a film that normally premiered on a big screen, it felt extremely different. However, it was Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Hong Chau, and other cast members that tied the film together.
The film gave a different experience not only to the audience of the film but also to the cast members. During an exclusive interview with Film Updates, Emma Stone opened up about how her scene of dancing to the song, Brand New B*tch by COBRAH went viral on different social media platforms after she improvised it. She said,
I didn’t know they were going to use it for a teaser trailer. So I didn’t expect it to take off as much as it did.
Willem Dafoe shared how he loved being a part of the film, and had a great time collaborating with Lanthimos as they all have a great time on the set.
He added,
He gives you fun things to do. We love being around him. I love his work. He brings wonderful people to the project. I’m very happy when I’m on his set and in his company. And of course, working with Emma Stone is a big bonus!
The Easy A actress agreed with her co-star’s comments, saying that she was “drawn” to the filmmaker’s works and had a great time working with the cast and crew of the film.
Willem Dafoe Explains Why He Agreed To Join The Cast of Kinds of Kindness
Kinds of Kindness was Willem Dafoe’s second collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos, the first being Poor Things. The recent project was much bolder and absurd compared to their previous collaboration, which has raised many eyebrows.
As a result, in the same interview, Dafoe was asked what convinced him to be part of the film. The Platoon actor answered that it was the script and if it sounded interesting to him. He said,
Whenever I read a script, I always say, ‘What am I doing with this? Do I want to do these things? Is it interesting to me? Is it something that I know so well that I want to do it or is it something that’s so far away from me, I want to learn about it? It’s like that.
He continued, how it is immensely important for one to act a little sill to make things interesting because it adds to their experience but primarily it’s the character and what he can do with it.
He said,
It’s about the doing. You really look until there’s so much that you can’t anticipate, and I don’t want to anticipate because once you decide certain things, sometimes you lose the life of discovery, so it’s good to be a little stupid sometimes. It’s good to be educated or to be engaged through the experience of doing, and that’s very essential.
So when I read a script, [my thoughts on it become] kind of secondary. A good script is a beautiful thing to have, but I look around who’s in the room and where it’s going to be, what kind of character I’m gonna play. I don’t even decide who the character is. It’s like, ‘This has turned me on,’ and that’s it.
While this film is different from a traditional watch, if you are looking forward to watching something bizarre that piques your interest, then, Kinds of Kindness is the film that you should watch.
Kinds of Kindness will be released in theatres on 21 June 2024.
