‘Kinds Of Kindness’ Review: Yorgos Lanthimos’ Twisted Triptych On Control & The Human Condition [Cannes]

An incisive look into the mafia’s presence in Corsica, Julien Colonna’s “The Kingdom” is an even-handed debut, filtering a war between rival gangs through the prism of a coming-of-age narrative. While well aware of the tropes associated with mafia films, Colonna’s decision to place his point of view alongside Lesia (Ghjuvanna Benedetti in her first role) creates a fascinating window into connections between real and created families.

The trailer for Kinds of Kindness is here, and it’s full of stars!

It kinda goes without saying that “Kinds of Kindness” is a unique film. All you need to know is that Yorgos Lanthimos directed it to realize this isn’t your typical comedy.

CANNES – After screening “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” a world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, one has to breathe a sigh of relief that director and screenwriter Mohammad Rasoulof is safely out of Iran. A victim of a politically motivated jail sentence for supporting the 2022 Masha Amini hijab protests, Rasoulof‘s latest feature will likely anger the Iranian government even more.

“All We Imagine As Light” opens as only a film set in Mumbai can— with the gradual unfurling of this massive metropolis at dawn. Its essential workers begin corralling the huge resources needed to maintain its creaking infrastructure and feed the tens of millions of people who will wake up and take public transport to work.

Grief is rotting Karsh’s (Vincent Cassel) teeth. It’s been four years since he lost his wife, the beautiful Becca (Diane Kruger), to a violent form of bone cancer that ate away at her body until her brittle frame could no longer sustain life.

An hour into “Misericordia,” there is a scene so shocking that it might leave viewers’ mouths agape in disbelief. Only it is a mere conversation between two people.

Five years ago, Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi broke out internationally with the Oscar-nominated “Border,” a thorny little beast of a fable about love, complicity, and guilt. His latest prods at some of the same themes, although the thorny little beast at the center of “The Apprentice” is far from a fictional creature of fables.

le town.The controversial movie “The Apprentice,” depicting the former president’s rise to fame in New York high society during the 1970s, premiered Monday at the Cannes Film Festival in France to a glamorous crowd including Cate Blanchett and Bella Hadid.The movie received a standing ovation ranging from eight to 11 minutes, according to accounts.In the drama, Sebastian Stan plays a younger Trump as he meets power lawyer and fixer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong of “Succession”) and first wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”).While his political ambitions are said to be hinted at, “The Apprentice” does not cover the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections or Trump’s four years in the White House. It also has nothing to do with the NBC reality TV series he hosted.What it does have, according to viewers, are shocks aplenty.During one cringey scene, Trump is said to get liposuction and a hair transplant.And, in another jarring moment, he violently rapes Ivana.

CANNES – For a moment, we thought Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” had overstayed its welcome. But, no, the “Revenge” director was just taking a breath before unleashing a wild and operatic ending for her Cannes Film Festival debut.

CANNES – Eduard Limonov was a complicated man. He was a poet, a novelist, and a political activist, At one point a Russian dissident who lived in New York and Paris, he returned to his homeland to lead a fascist party that supported a return to an ideology closer to that of the former Soviet Union.

CANNES – There is nothing wrong with a three-hour movie. There have been absolute masterworks longer than 180 minutes.

Emma Stone is set to team up with Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos again on the upcoming film Bugonia.Stone and Lanthimos are currently in Cannes to attend the premiere of another new collaboration, Kinds of Kindness, where they have announced their next project.Bugonia will be the pair’s fifth combination, following on from The Favourite, the short film Bleat, Poor Things and Kinds of Kindness. It is set to co-star Jesse Plemons, who also appears in Kinds of Kindness, which gets a UK release on June 28.Bugonia will be based on a 2003 sci-fi film from South Korea named Save The Green Planet!, and it will tell the story of a group of conspiracy theorists who kidnap a CEO that they believe is trying to destroy the Earth.Earlier this year, Stone picked up her second Oscar for Poor Things, following on from her success for La La Land in 2017.Promoting the film, Stone went out of her way to respond to those who suggested that it was sexist and exploitative.

Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos‘ Kinds of Kindness hasn’t even arrived yet, but the pair has already lined up their next collaboration!

Fresh off his brief but scene-stealing performance in “Civil War,” Jesse Plemons is reteaming with six-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos for his next film, now titled “Bugonia,” which has landed at Focus Features for North America. Plemons is also one of the many ensemble talents in Lanthimos’ “Kinds Of Kindness,” which just premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and co-stars Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Hunter Schafer (read our review).

CANNES – You have to give Jacques Audiard credit. The famed French filmmaker has proven time and time again he isn’t afraid to take big swings.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Yorgos Lanthimos can’t stop (won’t stop!) working with Oscar winner Emma Stone, casting the actress once again as leading lady for his next project “Bugonia.” The drama will also star Jesse Plemons who, along with Stone, appears in Lanthimos’ forthcoming “Kinds of Kindness.” That three-chapter feature just premiered on Friday at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. “Bugonia” follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. The script is from heat-seeking “Succession” and “The Menu” writer Will Tracy.

CANNES: You are no doubt familiar with the work of Renate Reinsve. The Norwegian actress earned accolades for her performance in Joachim Trier’s stellar “The Worst Person in the World,” and if you happened to attend the 2024 Sundance Film Festival this past January, you may have seen her in Aaron Schimberg’s lauded “A Different Man.” Reinsive has already proven her prowess as an actress, but there is a scene in her latest endeavor, “Armand,” which, and excuse the justified hyperbole, is simply startling.

Focus Features has taken worldwide rights to Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest project Bugonia, the remake of South Korean sci-fi comedy Save the Green Planet, which sees the Greek director reunite yet again with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons. The trio are here in Cannes with their Competition title Kinds of Kindness, which had its world premiere Friday.

CANNES – They may have already collaborated on three feature films and a short, but get one thing straight. Emma Stone isn’t Yorgos Lanthimos‘ muse.