And there is buzz the film might world premiere in Cannes — fingers crossed!
Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest, which comes just months after his award winning Poor Things, also stars Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe. Kinds of Kindness, which Lanthimos has written with Efthimis Filippou, is described in its short synopsis as a “triptych fable, following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader.”
The collaboration between Lanthimos and Filippou on the original screenplay for the film marks their fourth, after The Lobster, The Killing Of A Sacred Deer and Dogtooth.
Presented by Searchlight Pictures, Kinds of Kindness will be in cinemas in the UK and Ireland 28 June 2024, after kicking off a week earlier in the US.
Two-time Academy Award winner Emma Stone stars alongside Academy Award nominee Jesse Plemons, Academy Award Nominee Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Academy Award nominee Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie and Hunter Schafer. The film is produced by Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Kasia Malipan along with Lanthimos.
Along with the teaser trailer, Searchlight Pictures also released a first still from the film, featuring Dafoe with co-stars Jesse Plemons and Margaret Qualley. The teaser features Emma Stone peeling out in a purple Dodge Challenger, wearing an orange suit and in voiceover saying “This is it, the moment of truth… Isn’t it wonderful?” while a remix of the 80’s anthem by the Eurythmics — ‘Sweet Dreams Are Made of This’ plays as soundtrack. In just under a minute, Lanthimos has already had me at “Hello!”
I wasn’t a huge fan of Poor Things but loved The Favourite and his earlier work. So the verdict is out until viewing on this one. But one thing I can always tell in advance with the Greek director’s work is that his visuals are stunning and his costumes will set the trend for seasons to come.
And part of that beautiful visual is the film’s DoP, Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan who has worked on various projects with Lanthimos, but also has shot Noah Baumbach’s films and worked with Ken Loach.
Costumes, this time around, are the work of LA based costume designer Jennifer Johnson whose past work include Miranda July's Kajillionaire and Netflix title Blonde, the Marilyn Monroe biopic directed by Andrew Dominik. Among the films that Johnson credits with having inspired her are Vittorio De Sica’s Miracle in Milan, but also David Lean’s epic Lawrence of Arabia and Gus Van Sant’s black comedy To Die For, so we are definitely in for a wild wild visual ride on this one!
And to round out the credits, music is once again by Poor Things composer Jerskin Fendrix, while editing is by frequent Lanthimos collaborator, and fellow Hellenic Yorgos Mavropsaridis and the production design on Kinds of Kindness is the work of film and commercial production designer Anthony Gasparro.
Top image courtesy of Searchlight Pictures, used with permission.