The filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos loves to collect people. He cast
#EmmaStone in his films ‘The Favourite’, ‘Poor Things’, and the new ‘Kinds of Kindness’, in cinemas everywhere now. He has enlisted
#JoeAlwyn along for several films, too, and his commitment to crew is no different. Although ‘Kinds of Kindness’ marks the costume designer Jennifer Johnson’s first collaboration with Lanthimos, she has already been brought back for next year’s Bugonia (also starring Stone and Alwyn), which is currently in production. “Yorgos only works with nice people, and I think that’s why I was invited back,” Johnson told us when we spoke with her recently.
It’s strange, almost, to think that Lanthimos works with many of the same crew over and over again, as each of his films is so radically different from the one before it. The Favourite? A queer psychosexual historical melodrama. Poor Things? A campy, steampunk allegory. And now, Kinds of Kindness? A chaotic triptych, with three distinct storylines and the principal actors each playing different roles in each story — and one filled with curveballs, and should-I-laugh-or-should-I-squirm moments.
Whatever the material, it’s clear that Lanthimos and Johnson have a flawless eye for costume design. Although set in some sort of present day, ‘Kinds of Kindness’ takes us on a phantasmagorical journey through clothing — from cult members wearing water shoes to Willem Defoe in an orange bikini. The clothes here seem normal, but are worn by people who are anything but. At the link in our bio, we caught up with Johnson to get a behind-the-scenes look at how she brought this truly unique film to life through costume.