Yorgos Lanthimos’ triptych fable comes to life in ‘Kinds of Kindness’

LOS ANGELES — From the director behind “Poor Things,” “The Favourite” and “The Lobster,” comes a new film, “Kinds of Kindness,” a triptych fable that reunited him with some of his favorite collaborators.

Yorgos Lanthimos once again teams up with two-time Academy Award winner Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Jesse Plemons for thie film, which hits theaters this weekend.

“Kinds of Kindness” is composed of three different stories, but film director Lanthimos wanted the same actors to play a different character in each story to build a sense of familiarity for the audience.

One story follows a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life. Another is of a police officer who is alarmed that his wife, who was lost at sea, has returned and seems a different person. The third story is one of a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader.

“I like the structure of it. It felt almost experimental … being an anthology, three different stories that are sort of tied, but not really. I liked the bits that you can relate to. It was exciting reading a script like that,” Joe Alwyn told Spectrum News.

And while that is as much as can be said about “Kinds of Kindness” without spoiling the film, Dafoe tells Spectrum News what ties all three stories together.

“I think it’s the power dynamics of relationships. How we treat each other, how we see our identity in other people … how our relationship with people really impacts on how we drive our life,” he said.

In bringing his characters to life, Plemons tells Spectrum News there were times when he felt like he didn’t know what he was doing because of the abrupt changes in the three stories.

“The experience of making the second one, I didn’t have quite as much fun as I did in the first and third. I think some of that probably had to do with the script … it was just a darker script. But it ended up being one of my favorites. It left me feeling a little strange,” he said.

(From L-R): Willem Dafoe, Jesse Plemons and Hong Chau in “Kinds of Kindness.” (Searchlight Pictures/ Atsushi Nishijima)

Mamoudou Atchie, who plays Will, Neil and a morgue nurse, says teaming up with Lanthimos was the opportunity to challenge himself in a way he had not before, but one theme stood out to him.

“There is a cult-like devotion in [all three stories]. I have been baffled by them because this is not good for you. Why do people avail themselves to be taken advantage of for some sense of belonging? That’s the thing that spins a lot in my head,” he said.

For Dafoe and Plemons, “Kinds of Kindness” is the second time they each have teamed up with Lanthimos on a project.

Click the arrow above to watch the full interview with the pair discussing what it’s like to work with the acclaimed director.