Kinds of Kindness’ending might be just as strange and fascinating as the rest of Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film. It’s an anthology that follows a triptych format and features theKinds of Kindnesscast playing different characters in each segment.Kinds of Kindness’reviewswere positive overall, and its final segment, “R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich,” sees Emma Stone’s Emily attempting to find Ruth (Margaret Qualley), who can bring people back from the dead, in a bid to please Omi and Aka (Willem Dafoe and Hong Chau, respectively), and return to the sex cult they lead.
After being banished from the cult for being “contaminated,” Emily is more determined than ever to prove herself. Emily drugs Ruth and brings her to the morgue so she can resurrect R.M.F. from the dead. Emily forces Ruth to put her hand on R.M.F. and the man wakes up. Thrilled, Emily puts Ruth in her car to take her back to Omi and Aka, but in her haste to get there (and not ensure Ruth has her seatbelt on), swerves and crashes the car. Ruth flies out of the windshield and dies.
Kinds Of Kindness Cast & Character Guide
In Kinds of Kindness, her latest collaboration with Poor Things' Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone leads a cast including Willem Dafoe and Jesse Plemons.
Kinds Of Kindness’ R.M.F. Mystery Explained
R.M.F. Is The Only Constant Throughout The Movie
R.M.F. is a mysterious figure who appears in each segment; he’s also the only member of the cast who remains in the same role. In “The Death of R.M.F.,” he’s someone who consents to be killed by Robert, who refuses Raymond’s request initially. In “R.M.F. is Flying,” the character appears briefly flying a helicopter, and he’s brought back to life by Ruth, and subsequently eats said sandwich, in “R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich.” R.M.F. is the sole connection between the three parts, though what his initials stand for is unclear.
While his significance is never explained,R.M.F.’s presence groundsKinds of Kindnessto reality despite the absurdity of its three stories. R.M.F. doesn’t know any of the other characters directly, though it’s possible he’s some kind of immortal being who stays constant while everything else changes around him. R.M.F. could be a god-like stand-in who simply watches everyone do strange things, an observer of sorts. After all, he seems rather unfazed by the fact that he’s brought back to life and nearly killed in a car crash twice.
Regardless of what he’s doing, R.M.F. likely sees the cycle of his life and death as an inevitability and doesn’t resist them.He’s the one giving up control over his life, not beholden to anyone else, whereas every other character inYorgos Lanthimos’ movieis working in service of someone or something. WhileMamadou Athie and Joe Alwynare among those who wear various masks, depending on the story, R.M.F. is the epitome of how one can be themselves so long as they’re not trying to please other people.
What All 3 Kinds Of Kindness Segments Have In Common
They May Not Be The Same Story, But They Share Similarities
Though all three segments ofKinds of Kindnessare different, they also complement each other thematically. Each character, in one way or another, is attempting to gain someone’s approval. Whether that means Robert killing someone to stay in the good graces of Raymond, who holds power over him, or Liz trying to keep the love of her husband by fulfilling every outrageous and terrible request. Thecharacters all do things to essentially maintain the status quo. They are dominated or, depending on the story, are the ones doing the dominating.
Robert, Liz, and Emily all try to keep the connection they have to those who hold some kind of power over them.
It’s about control and a warped sense of love, and how far they’re each willing to go to keep that love, no matter how abusive or awful it actually is. Robert, Liz, and Emily all try to keep the connection they have to those who hold some kind of power over them. They likely believe they love Raymond, Daniel, and Omi and Aka, respectively. They go to great lengths to keep them happy and to regain their trust. To that end,Kinds of Kindnessshowcases how toxic these kinds of relationships are, and the danger of staying in that cycle.
Every actor in the film plays a different character in each segment, except for Hunter Schaefer, who only appears in “R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich.”
Was Liz Actually Replaced By Someone Else On The Island Of Dogs?
The Second Segment Keeps Up The Mystery
Lanthimos really messes with audiences’ minds in “R.M.F. is Flying,” and has us question whether Liz was actually replaced by a doppelgänger or if Daniel was just imagining it. It could have been his meds causing paranoia and his need to control her made him believe it. In the segment,Daniel has Liz’s dog tag, but Liz is also in possession of her dog tags when she returns. She also claims that the island she was stranded on was ruled by dogs, who gave them chocolate to eat, which explains why she eats chocolate despite disliking it before.
ThisKinds of Kindnesssegment is a bit more murky than the other two. A second Liz appears at the end of it, embracing Daniel while the previous Liz lies dead with her liver removed. It’s a moment that brings many questions to the surface, with no clear answers. Liz could have been replaced, especially since there are two sets of dog tags with no explanation for them. But it’s more likely Daniel wants to believe she’s a doppelgänger to assuage his own guilt about being abusive. Lanthimos’ film is anything but straightforward, after all, and both could be true.
Kinds Of Kindness’ Title Is A Contrast To Its Nihilistic Perspective
The Name Of The Movie Exposes Its Messages
Kinds of Kindness’ title is the exact opposite of its stories. The film isn’t about kindness at all — not to others or to oneself. None of the characters show an ounce of kindness to one another, though perhaps it’s how they perceive their treatment by those who are dominating them. For all its strangeness, Lanthimos’ film has a very nihilistic perspective on the world, and the way in which people move in it. Each segment finds its characters being driven to do horrible things, and none of them stop to think much about their actions because it’s desperation driving them.
While all of these characters do very human things, there’s a sense of cynicism that underscores the film’s stories.Kinds of Kindnesssees every character acting in their own best interests in exchange for kindness— or a warped version of it. But there are conditions to the kindness they receive; it isn’t freely given. The film’s title sets up an expectation the stories and characters utterly destroy with their actions. In that way, the film leaves room to wonder about what kindness really means in a world that is also devoid of it.
The Real Meaning Of Kinds Of Kindness’ Ending
The Movie Preaches An Absurdist Message
Kinds of Kindnessends with Ruth’s death (the fact she’s the one to die is ironic considering her gifts), and Emily freaking out because she can no longer take her to Omi and Aka. Meanwhile, R.M.F. lives on and eats his sandwich.The ending seems to be alluding to the strangeness of life and the idea that it can be comical— like it’s one big joke. Every time a character does something, it doesn’t go the way they expect it to; life happens regardless of the plans one makes, and it’s out of one’s control.
How The Kinds Of Kindess Ending Was Received
Response To The Yorgos Lanthimos Anthology Movie Was Mixed
Kinds of Kindnesswas received mostly well by critics, though wasn’t the runaway success of his 2023 collaboration with Emma Stone,Poor Things.SinceKinds of Kindnessis an anthology film, however, the endings of the three segments didn’t tend to get singled out in reviews.Critics judgedKinds of Kindnessas a complete work, as a movie composed of three stories with an underlying thematic message, and appraised it as the sum of its parts.
The criticisms ofKinds of Kindnessseemed to mainly be directed at the pacing, and the endings of the three segments do factor into this somewhat. Many reviews stated that the movie went on a little longer than it should have, with the slow-burn narratives each overstaying their welcome (but only a little).There is something to be said about how this reflects on the endings inKinds of Kindness,as the pacing issues may have been less notable had they felt satisfactory.
Writing forThe Guardian,Wendy Ide summed up the negative responses toKinds of Kindnesswell, summarizing many of the key issues critics and regular viewers alike have with its pacing and runtime:
Without the full-bore stylistic visual onslaught that oiled the wheels of Lanthimos’s last two films,Kinds of Kindnesscan feel rather a slog. The film is shot in and around New Orleans, but you wouldn’t know – urban anonymity replaces the vivid worlds created in his previous pictures. It’s impossible to endure all this – the film is sporadically funny but it’s also emotionally arid, mannered, and overlong…
Kinds of Kindness
Cast
Kinds of Kindness is a 2024 comedy-drama film by writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos. Split across segments, Kinds of Kindness tells the stories of a man trying to reclaim his destiny, a police officer whose wife returns after being lost at sea only to seem like a different person, and a woman tasked with finding a future spiritual leader.
