Parents' Guide to

Kinds of Kindness

Movie R 2024 165 minutes
Kinds of Kindness Movie Poster: A field consisting of many cutout faces of the main characters, looking like masks

Common Sense Media Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson By Jeffrey M. Anderson , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 17+

Graphic sex, gore in strange, slow, but funny anthology.

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Why Age 17+?

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Parent and Kid Reviews

age 15+

Based on 7 parent reviews

age 18+

age 12+

Kinds of Kindness

A very odd but interesting movie. If you are not familiar or don’t like Yorgos Lanthimos style, then you will probably not like this movie. The pacing was good for the most part until the 3rd story.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (7 ):
Kids say (2 ):

Due to its slow pacing, this strange, dry, and very long comedy doesn't quite achieve the punch that its three stories could have pulled off, but it at least manages more than a few offbeat giggles. Co-written and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos—who's no stranger to either excess or strangeness—Kinds of Kindness feels more like an offhand tribute to David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick than it does Lanthimos' previous works Poor Things or The Favourite. The actors' performances are deliberately stilted, as in Lynch's movies, and the plinking piano score and eerie chanting chorus recall Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. And while Lanthimos usually guides his casts to Oscar nominations, these characters are too thin to really be memorable.

Still, his loyal favorites Stone, Dafoe, and Margaret Qualley (all from Poor Things) return, and—along with newcomers Plemons, Hong Chau, and Mamoudou Athie—seem to simply offer themselves up for whatever Lanthimos suggests, no matter whether it involves nudity, stunts, odd wardrobe options, or what have you. And yet there's something that really clicks about Kinds of Kindness's humor, much of it centered around the "R.M.F." character, whose name is in each of the three titles but is only marginally involved and never even speaks. Stone also elicits laughs with another memorable dance routine. Above all, Lanthimos and co-screenwriter Efthimis Filippou are wise enough to not give anything away at the beginning of each story, so that they immediately intrigue viewers with their peculiarities. The movie's slow pace unfortunately gives viewers time to occasionally get a few jumps ahead of the storylines, but there's still a savory satisfaction at the end of each one.

Movie Details

  • In theaters: June 21, 2024
  • On DVD or streaming: August 27, 2024
  • Cast: Emma Stone , Jesse Plemons , Willem Dafoe
  • Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
  • Inclusion Information: Female actors
  • Studio: Searchlight Pictures
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Run time: 165 minutes
  • MPAA rating: R
  • MPAA explanation: strong/disturbing violent content, strong sexual content, full nudity and language
  • Last updated: September 3, 2024

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