Robert's life is very simple and predictable. So much so that it fits completely on the cards he checks every morning. What tie to wear for work, what to eat for lunch and how many reciprocating movements to do during morning sex with your wife — everything is described to the smallest detail. Some will find this stability boring, but not to a guy as unshakable as Robert.
Although there is still a little oddity in this behavior. These instructions, including the number of potatoes eaten for dinner and the creases on the shirt, are drawn up by the main character's boss. But even his wife doesn't know that their inability to have a child is not bad luck at all, but a predestined scenario in which there was no place for children.
For the time being, characters from the first anthology story “Kinds of Kindness” live in relative stability. But the measured life of Daniel, the main character of the second chapter, is excited by bereavement. The sea expedition in which his wife paricipated disappeared in the stormy ocean, and now only grief fills the emptiness in the man's soul.
An even greater imbalance is caused by the wonderful return of the wife, whom the sad husband is not at all happy about. After all, the faithful seemed to have been replaced: her old shoes are tight, but she has completely forgotten her favorite song. To some, such little things will seem like trauma, but not to suspicious Daniel, who decides to give his new wife a severe test.
The third story is about Emily, a loyal follower of the water-hating cult. For the sake of an intimate relationship with a wise leader, she is ready to leave her family and endure torture rituals to get rid of excess moisture. But when cruel rules turn against her, the woman is forced to commit real crimes.
At first glance, Yorgos Lanthimos' poor and unhappy heroes are driven by lofty goals. It seems that for the sake of loyalty and love, each of them is able to withstand any challenge. When Robert is faced with the choice of risking his own life or going against his boss, he doesn't even think about the answer. And Daniel and Emily remain committed to their ideals despite their crazy shapes.
In fact, it is not loyalty that leads the main characters, but fear of change. After all, to defy the person who determines every second of your existence means being left alone with uncertainty — letting chaos into measured predictability, destroying walls that protect you from making your own decisions.
Characters in Yorgos Lanthimos's films, whether they're subjects of the Mad Queen in “The Favourite” or an assistant to a violent scientist in “Poor Things” (read our text), they build the walls of their prisons with their own hands. And when they put themselves behind bars, they face not an oppressive lack of freedom, but with a reality that is understandable and similar to a scenario.
Striving for others' approval and order, they are ready to abandon their individuality and adapt to the requirements and expectations of others. For the main characters of “Kinds of Kindness”, any change is chaos. They try to maintain control, but in the process they only lose touch with reality and destroy the remnants of their identity.
Yorgos Lanthimos shows that submission disguised as a search for stability echoes an escape from freedom. The characters are afraid to make choices that will require them to take responsibility, so they find comfort in strict hierarchies that do not imply change. The deeper they dive into this position, the more they become faceless condoners of others' will.
The director again encapsulates a simple idea into an absurd plot and shows how ridiculous the world will be if human fears and desires are taken to the extreme. Dependence on work and refusal to accept changes in loved ones again turn into surreal nonsense. And it clearly reflects the ridiculous rules that millions follow day in and day out.
With unhealthy excitement, Yorgos Lanthimos fills his works with blatant cruelty and brutal candor. Sexuality in his films is often devoid of a romantic connotation; it is more of an instrument of power, control, or the mechanical fulfillment of social norms. This time, sex becomes a part of submission and a means of manipulation, showing how intimacy can be ruined if it serves conformism rather than individuality.
“Kinds of Kindness” asks the question of how many decisions a person has of their own and how many are imposed from outside. Obeying the will of others, people absolve themselves of responsibility and shift the burden of choice to others. In a world where rules are absurd, love is arbitrary and personality has no value, Yorgos Lanthimos reminds us that true freedom begins where the fear of chaos ends.
