Thursday, 10 February 2022

Film Review: "Kimi" (2022).


"She's not the only one listening" in Kimi. This thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by David Koepp. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Seattle, an agoraphobic tech worker discovers evidence of a violent crime while reviewing a data stream, and is met with resistance and bureaucracy when she tries reporting it to her company. To get involved, she realizes she must face her greatest fear by venturing out of her apartment and into the city streets, which are filled with protestors after the city council passes a law restricting the movements of the homeless population.

In late February 2021 it was announced that Soderbergh was chosen to direct a thriller for New Line Cinema with Zoë Kravitz on board to star. By April, Rita Wilson, Erika Christensen, Devin Ratray, Andy Daly and Charles Halford. At the same time, principal photography commenced and took place in Los Angeles, California and Seattle, Washington, USA.

The film stars Kravitz, Wilson, Christensen, Ratray, Daly and Halford. Kravitz looks natural for a first-time thriller star and this is the ideal vehicle for her.

The film is a good thriller. This is a nice little Soderbergh snack for his fans until his next big time release. Kravitz is pretty good in this and shows a genuine venerability and toughness that you don't see much on the big screen. The film is one that knows what it wants, which is to showcase the athletic prowess and personal charm of its star Kravitz. It achieves this goal stylishly and entertainingly. Just because Soderbergh's ambitions aren't as grand and sweeping here as elsewhere does not make the film worth any less. The suspense is admittedly enjoyable at times, but your eyes and ears become perpetually distracted by the dull story and somewhat weak supporting performances. The film does have style, but unfortunately the focus on that element seems to have come at too much of a cost. I don't want to say much more than that. The film jumps right into the suspense and thrills, leaving lots of questions and a delicious sense of mystery that remains until the very end. It's worth seeing, and hands-down it's one of your better options at the cineplex right now, but there's no urgency. It may seem like this is merely an exercise in style and to be honest, it is. Soderbergh's clearly fascinated by the physicality of Kravitz as a woman on the run and the film's sole reason for existence is to highlight those skills. Soderbergh continues his occasional practice of using actors as found objects in his perfectly enjoyable formula thriller. The film's shortcomings don't detract from the minute to minute onscreen ride - featuring Kravitz's fresh (and uncompromising) thriller work. Soderbergh may be unpredictable but his command of movie making is exhilarating and lord knows he's never dull. If you're a fan of the thriller genre, Soderbergh superbly nails what thrills it takes for those films to work so well.

Simon says Kimi receives:



Also, see my review for No Sudden Move.

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