The latest Yorgos Lanthimos / Emma Stone team-up, a film called Kinds of Kindness (previously known as And), is set to reach theatres on June 21st – but first, it’s having its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, which is now underway. The first reviews of Kinds of Kindness are now arriving online, and they’re describing this 165 minute “triptych fable” as dark, bizarre, insidious, intriguing, brilliant, bonkers, disturbing, puzzling, funny, surreal, creepy, mind-bending, twisted, and innovative. We have rounded up some of them below.

Vulture‘s Bilge Ebiri says, Lanthimos can “reclaim his throne as our reigning cinematic poet-king of serial humiliation. His new film Kinds of Kindness marks a return to the spectacles of personal, familial, societal degradation on which the director made his name.” Variety‘s Peter Debruge says the film will keep viewers squirming while serving up “a triple helping of strange.” IndieWire‘s David Ehrlich said Kinds of Kindness feels like Lanthimos having an allergic reaction to his success with films like The Favourite and Poor Things. The Hollywood Reporter‘s David Rooney calls it Lanthimos’s return to “the startling collision of conventional reality with occurrences surreal, bizarre and disturbing that characterized his earlier works, most notably Dogtooth, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.” Vogue‘s Radhika Seth says it could be the most brilliantly bonkers movie you see all year. The Guardian‘s Peter Bradshaw called it a “weirdness mosaic” that is both unnerving and amusing. Deadline‘s Stephanie Bunbury warns that it’s not an easy movie to like. The Wrap‘s Steve Pond called it a surreal creep-fest, “a cornucopia of black humor, dark thrills and assorted murders, couplings and things that make you go eeewww.” Telegraph‘s Robbie Collin thought it was mind-bendingly brilliant and a treat to watch. Raphael Abraham of Financial Times agrees that Lanthimos has returned to the Greek “weird wave” approach for this one. David Jenkins of Little White Lies saw it as “an ode to experimental theatre.” The Playlist‘s Gregory Ellwood was left at a loss for words. Screen Daily‘s Fionnuala Halligan said, “What does it all mean? It’s unlikely audiences will have much of a clue. Humanity, darkness, opportunism, need? The final track leaves no doubt that viewers have been scrabbling about at the bottom of a very dark well for almost three hours. But the surprise is that they will probably come back to peer at it again.“

Kinds of Kindness is officially described as a triptych fable, following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader.

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.”

Joining The Favourite and Poor Things star Emma Stone in the cast 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).

Are you looking forward to Kinds of Kindness? What do you think of this first batch of reviews? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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