Kimi – An Effective Pandemic Crime Drama

In early 2020, the world as we know it had screeched to a halt. An industry that was forced to change gears was the film industry. Major studios shifted toward smaller and simpler films with straightforward premises, making the most out of current circumstances. Kimi was a film to come out of that pandemic style of filmmaking. While the film is no brilliant piece of cinema, it’s a perfectly serviceable watch that effectively captures some of the thoughts, feelings and emotions of the populace. Those who give it a chance are sure to find themselves echoing the virtual assistant’s popular phrase “I’m here.”

Kimi begins with a tech giant named Bradley Hasling (Derek DelGaudio) introducing his new virtual assistant, Kimi. However, things were not quite what they seemed as the camera adjusts to reveal that his makeshift office space is just an organized wall in his cluttered garage with ladders and junk piled up around him. This exposition setting up the film world is amusingly arranged within it, poking fun at the fake reality of our modern sugar coated Instagram/Facebook/Zoom world. People are only shown what we want others to see. Cue our blue-haired protagonist Angela Childs (Kravitz). Kravitz is surprisingly well suited for the part of a paranoid shut in as her face carries an underlying fear and sadness that’s rarely found in people of her age demographic. She also does an exceptional job of embodying and demonstrating the levels of anxiety and fear many individuals experienced over the past two years of lockdown. After encountering an ominous audio recording of the Kimi system trying to understand something, Angela is caught up in whirlwind of chaos and murder.

Running at razor tight running time of just under an hour and a half, many would surely think that this would equal a fantastically quick pace. Because of such a simple plot and straightforward story, Kimi actually takes time playing around with its pandemic quirks and character development before it truly gets going. Once Angela’s discovery forces her to leave her apartment to report the suspected crime, viewers are taken on a rollercoaster ride that doesn’t stop until the credits roll. The act of leaving her apartment is made to feel like such an otherworldly experience as she leaves the safety and security of her apartment for the unknown eccentricities of the outside world. Most of these shots are done with a handheld camera, with the jerky movements making it seem like viewers are following behind her like a stray animal. Soderbergh’s direction is tight and precise editing makes these sequences feel fluid, creating a palpable nervous and uneasy atmosphere throughout. Meanwhile, the music is also immersing, although a bit odd at times, chiming away like a broken lullaby player above an empty baby crib.

Soderbergh, who was at one point one of the most bankable directors of the 1990’s, has been pretty hit or miss as of late. But with Kimi definitely falls much closer to a hit, even though it may not be quite a roaring directorial achievement.

still courtesy of HBO Max

(original review)

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Where to watch Kimi

Russell Miller

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