KIMI is a mystery thriller, the newest HBO Max original film from prolific Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh after Let Them All Talk and No Sudden Move. It’s astonishing to me how he has released all three films in 14 months, and all have ended up being excellent and enjoyable. Despite a career with 30 films and two documentaries, he still surprises me and exceeds my expectations as KIMI is one of his best film films yet.
His latest follows Angela Childs (Zoë Kravitz), an agoraphobic tech worker who stumbles on evidence of a violent crime through a routine work project. She realizes that she needs to conquer her fear and leave her apartment to get the information out about the crime.
KIMI feels like Soderbergh’s take on a Hitchcockian thriller with shades of Rear Window and did a better job at this than last year’s horrendous The Woman in the Window. There’s a particular one-take scene when Angela finally leaves her loft masterfully directed by Soderbergh. He gave us a fantastic glimpse into how severe her agoraphobia is.
Besides being one of our most prolific directors, Soderbergh is also great at pacing his films. He knows how to keep a movie tight with no fillers. The film runs 89 minutes and is expertly paced. You’re never bored, and he makes sure that you always have to pay attention, having something important going on at all times. The final stretch especially is so good, some of the best directing of his career and one of his best and most satisfying endings. In terms of style, the closest films in his filmography are probably Side Effects or Unsane, both of which I like a lot.
This time around, Soderbergh is working from a script by the great David Koepp, who is best known for his work on Jurassic Park, Carlito’s Way, the first Mission Impossible, among so many other fantastic films. I liked Koepp‘s script. While Covid-19 isn’t the main plot, I loved how he incorporated it into the film, especially when it comes to displaying how it has made her agoraphobia worse. Koepp also wrote Panic Room, and this film has shades of that with the tension that we see in the scenes in Angela’s loft. I hope Koepp and Soderbergh reunite down the line.
Now on to Zoë Kravitz, who gives an excellent performance as she carries the film on her back as most of the supporting cast mostly make fleeting appearances through Zoom or FaceTime. She does a lot of great facial work as she dives deeper into this mystery and displays how her past trauma has affected her life and how she interacts with the world. Despite her condition, she has a slick attitude, and I loved how she would clap back at people with her responses.
The supporting cast, which features names such as Rita Wilson, Jaime Camil, Erika Christensen, Byron Bowers, and Jacob Vargas, is mostly wasted. The majority of them play one-note cliche characters. The only one that came off looking decent for me was Bowers, who plays Angela’s love interest. He gets the most backstory and has good chemistry with her. While there’s a lot to love about his script, I also hate how predictable it was. There are no surprises at all, with many things being easy to spot a mile away if you’ve seen enough thrillers.
Despite its predictability, Soderbergh’s strong direction and the commanding lead performance from Zoë Kravitz make KIMI worth a watch.
