The press conference for Yorgos Lanthimos’ new film “Kinds of Kindness” at the Cannes Film Festival focused heavily on sex scenes and Emma Stone, despite the impressive ensemble cast present. The film stars Stone, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Joe Alwyn, and Jesse Plemons in three distinct storylines using the same actors as different characters in each chapter. Lanthimos, known for his use of physicality in his films, emphasized the importance of observing life through physicality and denied mistreating it.
Throughout the press conference, Stone fielded numerous questions about her work as a female in the film industry and the sex scenes in the film. Stone, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Lanthimos’ previous film “Poor Things,” noted that the director is very physically oriented and loves focusing on movement and expression through the body. Despite the focus on sex scenes, Stone attempted to shift the conversation back to the acting side of the film and the physicality required of the actors.
One of the oddities of the press conference was the lack of questions directed towards Jesse Plemons, who plays a lead role in “Kinds of Kindness.” Most of the ensemble cast did not speak much during the conference, which seemed to make Stone uncomfortable. When asked about her role as a leading lady in many of her movies and representing women in the film industry, Stone emphasized that it is a collective effort to achieve gender equality in cinema.
Lanthimos filmed “Kinds of Kindness” back-to-back with “Poor Things,” and discussed the process of distributing both films close to each other. He explained that while waiting for the post-production of “Poor Things,” they had already finished the script for “Kinds of Kindness” and decided to go ahead and shoot another movie. Plemons, who worked with Lanthimos for the first time on this film, praised the director’s collaborative approach and the excitement of working towards achieving his vision.
Towards the end of the press conference, Plemons finally had the opportunity to discuss his experience working with Lanthimos and the collective effort put into realizing the director’s vision. Plemons and Stone are set to reunite with Lanthimos on his next film, “Bugonia.” “Kinds of Kindness,” with its ensemble cast and focus on physicality and sex, is set to be released in theaters on June 21. Despite the uncomfortable focus on sex scenes at the press conference, the film has received positive reviews at the Cannes Film Festival.
