Although it is possible that with titles like the (great) Ocean trilogy or ‘Logan’s Luck’, many think that Steven Soderbergh is a guy who only makes light movies for his friends to have a good time, the truth is that every time the director puts his hands in the thriller the results are dynamite of the good. Y ‘kimi‘, his new job for HBO Maxis not an exception.
sole witness
It doesn’t matter if you decide to make a big choral movie for the awards or a little horror story with an iPhone: Steven Soderbergh is one of the most important figures in cinema of our time. A teacher who deserves to be recognized and revered every time he decides to get up from the sofa and take charge of a new project. And if it’s a thriller, even better.
Supported by a wonderful and concise script by David Koepp and by the fantastic musical setting of a Cliff Martínez possessed by the (living) spirit of Pino Donaggio, ‘Kimi’ offers LESS than ninety minutes of pure cinema breaks nerves (almost) without leaving home. Eighty-nine, to be exact. Credits included. This is helped by the dedicated performance of Zoë Kravitz, the absolute protagonist and queen of a show that brings us back to the classic mystery, to the golden thriller and to the work of artisans from another era. We had Coppola from ‘The conversation’, Palma from ‘Impact’ or Badham from ‘At the appointed time’ and, suddenly, without realizing it, we stopped having them.
An agoraphobic employee of a large technology company discovers evidence of a violent crime while reviewing a series of data, only to encounter strong resistance and bureaucracy. rare when you try to report it to the company. Getting involved, she realizes that he must face his greatest fear by going out on a date. a much more dangerous exterior than the one that forced her to lock herself up to enter the streets of the city, full of protesters in the face of the government’s measures.
‘Kimi’ is not a movie about the pandemic. It is a movie during the pandemic. And the familiar masks and situations are as perfectly integrated into it as its music or photography. The domain of space of the Koepp / Soderbergh is portentous, and details such as decontamination when entering a building or the gels distributed around the house are chillingly close. The director does not need to underline what is happening outside that house, he leaves some fantastic clues that enhance his veracity.
Life has changed so much since the times of ‘Body Double’, another story of onlookers, that it’s even hard to remember Hitchcock’s binoculars. Over the years we have all become voyeurs, whether we like it or not. The price? That in reality we all look at everyone. We are surrounded by people, by faces, by cameras, by technology. ‘Kimi’ doesn’t need to be set in a future where people can fall in love with the voice of their home automation, it just reflects the world in which we live. After ‘Black Mirror’ it was time to return to the most real techno-misery.
Do you know what this director and his screenwriter know how to do very well? Frighten. Y when the movie wants to scare it gives real terror. Terrible bad guys, companies that gobble up their employees and conspiracies come face to face with moments where ordinary people, the citizen, the neighbor, are someone much more important. Everything is in its place here, everything makes sense. Even its masterful first sequence, where a CEO on the verge of triumph gives an interview via videoconference. In pijama.
After his previous work for the platform, ‘No sudden movements‘, Steven Soderbergh is still determined to fatten up his filmography by making history with his way of showing that “less is more“He hasn’t had a rival in that field for 30 years. If Soderbergh is not a five-star guy, turn off and let’s go.
‘Kimi’ is available on HBO Max.