Kimi must have been the first “big” film from 2022 I heard of. When it came out, most movie fans I follow saw it almost instantly, and the response was very middling. However, it is still Steven Soderbergh‘s film, and he is one of those directors I admire even though his movies are very hit or miss for me. Kimi also has Zoë Kravitz in the leading role, and honestly, that was my biggest draw to this film as I really liked her in The Batman (2022, my review here), and I vowed to watch more of her movies. I am glad I did so because she was amazing in this film, and I just wished the movie would “catch up” with Zoë.
I am not going to say that Kimi is a bad film. No, not by any means. I will say it is one of the most average films I have ever seen, and the only thing lifting it up above to slightly below-average territory is Zoë’s performance. Her character emotes so much and gives you a lot without any talking; we didn’t really need her backstory “spelt out”. Zoë does her very best to convey what her character is about, and I “got it” long before she explains why she behaved the way she was. And that’s because of her choices and being so “precise” with every single tiny thing. Her character has many “ticks” and quirks she does, so everybody within 10/15 minutes of runtime will understand her.
Kimi is one of the first movies to not only be shot during the pandemic (at least partially) but also address the pandemic while making it part of the story. I know we have many, many, MANY more films coming our way about what we’ve been (and still partially are) through, but I liked how this film not only incorporated this into the story, it was a huge character trait for Zoë’s character and part of the reason of why her journey throughout this film was so challenging. So far, I was pleased with this movie.
Another element I was happy with was the direction, at least regarding the film’s tempo. Mainly the first 30 minutes of Kimi are dynamic, the film flows well, and even though the Rear Window (1954, my review here) parallel is obvious, I thought it was well done. Steven managed to take the best elements from that immortal classic and incorporate them into Kimi, blending the past with the present. The “only” issue, and to be honest, the biggest problem I had with this movie, was the story. It was unbelievably predictable. And I don’t mean “I have seen thousands of movies, so I understand what is coming” predictable. What I mean is I would try to guess what happens next, and I guarantee you that is what happens.
The problem with getting your inspiration from classics such as Rear Window is that those classics tend to be old; otherwise, they would not be considered classics in the first place. So, you must modernize them and put some spin on them. Unfortunately, if your definition of modernizing a movie is setting it in the present, referencing the pandemic and making the main protagonist an agoraphobic tech worker, you have failed. Because the beats of the story matter too. And if you modernize the details but don’t care about the overall story, you will end up with a film like this one. Again, I can’t say Kimi is a bad movie because it is shot well, and Zoë delivers a powerful performance, but it is a shame those elements aren’t serving a better, more complex story. Think about it like this – let’s say you have a car that is 30 years old, and you want to upgrade it. So, you go in, replace the seats, and now, you have better leather seats with heating, redo the electronics, and maybe even change the engine to something more powerful. But then you forget to change the chassis and overall car body, resulting in you having great shiny new parts of your car, but when you take it out for a spin, it might not be able to support the new, more powerful engine. As you can tell, I know little to nothing about cars.
What I am trying to say is; that it is not enough to take Rear Window, throw a pandemic and a character with a tech job in it and call it a day with the most generic, predictable story there is. It almost felt like this film uses the pandemic as a shield to say: “Hey, we wanted to make a more compelling story, but his pandemic didn’t allow us to do that, so here you go.” To which I would reply, bullshit. Take one of the most minimalistic films ever made, Malcolm & Marie (2021, my review here). It literally starred only two people, took place in one location, was shot during the pandemic too, and was about one really complicated relationship. That story wasn’t anything new, yet that movie felt fresh and dynamic, and it had something to say. Not a perfect film, mind you (at least in my view) and yet I would rather re-watch that one than Kimi, purely based on the story alone. I believe it’s fair to compare these movies. Sure they have different plots, but both were made during the same circumstances. The other difference would be how these films tackled the lack of resources and limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a clear winner here.
Overall, Kimi is a perfectly fine, average film that almost doesn’t deserve somebody as talented as Zoë to be in the leading role. She is the only memorable aspect of this otherwise forgettable movie that could have been way better. Had they tried and came up with some new twists on this Rear Window-esque approach, or if, at the very least, this film wasn’t as predictable, it might have been something truly great. As it stands, Kimi is an ok film I might recommend for one of those days where you want to put something on that will not surprise you in any way, or you are a massive Zoë fan. Everybody else might skip this one.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke
