Kinds of Kindness (2024)

Yorgos Lanthimos's (The Favorite; Poor Things) black comedy-drama anthology film about dysfunctional relationships, uses the same small cast including Emma Stone, William Dafoe and Jesse Plemons in all 3 of its stories. 

Story one has Plemons as an employee who let's his boss make all the decisions in his life, including the car he drives, the food he eats and the woman her marries. When after a decade Plemons refuses to carry out an order because it might kill someone, he quickly finds himself unable to function in life without boss Defoe's guidance. 

In story 2 Plemons is a cop whose wife Stone is lost at sea. When she is miraculously rescued Plemons becomes convinced she is an imposter and forces her to perform increasingly self destructive acts to prove her love. 

In story three Plemons and Stone are cult members tasked with seeking out their groups promised messiah. Stone, who left her husband and daughter to join the group, finds she can't keep herself from checking in on her loved ones. This threatens her good standing in the cult and her very sense of identity. 

These are kinds of narratives that seem more naturally suited to being short stories then a film, but they make for intriguing and at times unsettling viewing. Director Lanthimos cameos as the same minor character in all three stories. ***1/2