You know the film. It’s a film you have never heard of. The cast might be composed of actors you know and love or complete unknowns. A documentary that sounds interesting about a topic you might like. You stumble across it on streaming and wonder if it will be worth two hours of your time. This series will be devoted to reviewing films like these, the strange items that pop up when you are looking for a flick on the streaming service of your choice. This is “We Found It On Streaming”
FILM: Kimi
Release Date: February 10, 2022
Run Time: 89 Minutes.
Streaming Service(s): Max
Rating: Rated R for violence, language and brief sexuality/nudity
Steven Soderbergh is one of the best directors working in the film today. That seems to be an easily defensible hill to die on, but it feels like Soderbergh doesn’t get the respect he deserves. Yeah, I know, he has won an Oscar for his work, but he seldom seems to be in the conversation for the best working director. And if he focused on more Oscar-bait fare like Erin Brockovich and Traffic, he might be mentioned in the same breath as Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan more often.
But instead of staying in that little lane, Soderburgh decided to make all forms of filmmaking his lane. From blockbusters (Oceans 11, 12 & 13 or Magic Mike) to literary adaptations (Out of Sight), from biopics for the big screen (Che) and the little (Behind the Candelabra), from thoughtful sci-fi (Solaris) to action films (Haywire). He goes wherever his muse takes him, which brings us to Kimi, his take on the Hitchcockian thriller.
Angela Childs (Zoë Kravitz) is an employee a tech corporation called Amygdala. Amygdala is about to go public, and is expected to do very well, as a result of their product, Kimi. Kimi is a Siri/Alexa-like digital assistant smart speaker with one major difference: it has a team of human monitors who work streamline and improve the service, working out any bugs as they arise. For example, is someone in the South asks Kimi to put “kitchen paper” on a shopping list, it will show up as a glitch and go to Angela. Angela then will change the code, so Kimi knows “kitchen paper” is slang for “Paper towels”.
The work is a good fit for Angela, who has become agoraphobic after a horrific assault. She is able to work a full day while never having to leave her apartment. However, when one of the glitches that comes across her desk seems to be a recording of a woman getting killed, she has to leave her comfort zone to make sure the proper authorities are notified. Unfortunately, there are very powerful people who want to keep the crime from getting reported, and that means trouble for Angela.
Savvy FilmBuffs will recognize this as a Rear Window for the digital age. Not that this is a bad thing. Everything old is stolen for something new in Hollywood, and all depends on how the filmmakers reconceptualize it as to how good or bad it is. And Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp reconceptualize it perfectly.
It seems almost silly to complement David Koepp’s script. Koepp is a legendary name in screenwriting (films on his resume include Mission: Impossible, Jurassic Park and Spider-Man) and he could write a thriller like this in his sleep. But his script here is excellent. He keeps the scenes short and suspenseful and the action moving. There are a lot of plot points that seem to come out of left field, but Koepp sets them up earlier in the film. And at just under 90 minutes, it is a tautly written film that gives you everything you need to know in half the time other filmmakers would need just to get started.
And of course, Soderbergh’s mastery is on display here as well. To give you one example, let’s talk about the scene when Angela leaves her house (and for those of you yelling “SPOILERS!!!” at your screen, come on. Have you never seen a film before? Of course a character with agorphobia will have to leave their home, just like someone who is afraid of heights will end up on top of a building or someone who is claustrophobic will end up in a ventilation shaft to escape a bad guy. That’s just Hollywood 101.). When Angela hits the street, Soderbergh changes up his shooting style. Everything is shot at Dutch angles, with jittery hand cam and swirling camera movements. It might be a bit much if you, say, suffer from motion sickness, but it immediately puts viewers in Angela’s shoes, and her struggle becomes yours. It is a brilliant yet easy way to invest people in the narrative and it is truly impressive.
Also impressive is Zoë Kravitz’s performance as Angela. Granted, the character is very well written, but Kravitz finds a nice balance between the characters vulnerability and her intelligence and resolve. She doesn’t make Angela’s agoraphobia the only thing that defines her, but a struggle that her character needs to deal with. She makes Angela a sympathetic protagonist, which in this type of film is absolutely vital. And considering that Angela is on screen throughout the whole film, Kravitz has to carry the film on her shoulders, which she does magnificently.
The film is mostly focused on Angela, but there are other actors in support. The best of the rest of the cast is Rita Wilson, playing a shifty corporate executive who tries to give Angela the run around. She does a great job playing the subtleties of the role. She is essentially acting as someone acting. which is tricky to pull off.
Kimi is a great film, a taut, engrossing thriller that is a master’s class in filmmaking. For the small price of only an hour and a half of your time, you see for yourself. I highly recommend it.
Have you found a film on streaming that you’d like us to look at? Leave it in the comments and it might appear in a future installment of this feature.
