Talk about a fast turnaround! After winning four golden statues at the 96th Academy Awards ceremony for the twisted Frankenstein-like drama Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone are reteaming for the lauded director’s next feature, Kinds of Kindness. The film opens in theaters this summer on June 21, with several high-profile stars joining Stone in the project that sounds like Lanthimos plays musical chairs with his actors.
Joining Emma Stone for some of the Yorgos Lanthimos goodness are Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse), Jesse Plemons (Civil War), Hong Chau (The Menu), Margaret Qualley (Drive Away Dolls), Joe Alwyn (The Favourite), Mamoudou Athie (Jurassic World: Dominion), and Hunter Schafer (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Song Birds & Snakes).
While walking the red carpet at the Golden Globes, Lanthimos described Kinds of Kindness as follows: “It’s three contemporary stories, and there’s a core of actors — seven total — who play one character in each story.” he said. “So, they’ll play three different characters.” Does what I said about musical chairs with actors make sense now?
Poor Things is currently streaming on Disney+/Hulu, with physical copies arriving on Blu-ray and DVD at retailers. The borderline pornographic, visually splendiferous exploration of independence and expression banked $108.7M worldwide. Poor Things also cleaned up at the Oscars with four wins, including prizes for Best Actress (Emma Stone), Make-Up and Hairstyling, Costume Design and Production Design. During her acceptance speech, a flabbergasted Emma Stone dedicated her win to the other women nominated for Best Actress, with a special mention for Killers of the Flower Moon actress Lily Gladstone.
Kinds of Kindness opens in theaters alongside Focus Features/New Regency’s The Bikeriders and Sony’s It Ends With Us. The Bikeriders, starring Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, and Norman Reedus, follows the rise of a midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life. Meanwhile, It Ends with Us tells the story of Lily, who believes she’s found true love with Ryle, but when a painful incident triggers past trauma, she must decide if love alone can carry her marriage through. However, things are complicated when her first love returns to her life.
Are you curious to learn more about Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness? What did you think about Poor Things? Let us know in the comments below.