Kimi (2022)
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Kimi Movie Review
Kimi is a 2022 thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Zoe Kravitz. It is a very entertaining crowd-pleaser.
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“Why can’t things just be good?
Why do things always have to be the best?“
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A tech worker with agoraphobia discovers recorded evidence of a violent crime, but is met with resistance when she tries to report it. Seeking justice, she must do the thing she fears the most: she must leave her apartment. Soderbergh is usually strong at thriller movies and this is one of his most entertaining. It’s his obvious attempt to appeal to wider audiences, which he succeeded in spades.
Angela Childs isn’t a particularly well developed character, but Zoe Kravitz definitely did elevate the role that she was given with a terrific, believable performance. She is great both at those panicking scenes as well as in action moments. She’s badass in the final section and so much fun to follow. Other characters are only there for plot purposes in this very short movie that left no time for proper characterization.
What I really appreciated about Kimi is its thematic resonance. Yes, the movie is short and sweet at just an hour and a half and seemingly it’s very simplistic in narrative, but the themes of surveillance and overwhelming technology are sprinkled throughout. It’s a pleasingly modern movie that makes use of technology such as Alexa by showing how we can use it to our benefit.
Yes, the paranoid thrillers about surveillance have been made before a lot of times, but this one is set in the present, and thus it showcases just how surveillance dictates our lives. But what is also interesting is how Kimi depicts our present day that requires that you leave no house at all to live your life under proper circumstances as is the case with Angela.
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Her agoraphobia is well explored as is her dependence on technology, which culminates in that thrilling final sequence where she used all the tech in her apartment to trick and kill her assailants. The entire third act was a bit too convenient, but undeniably cool and wildly entertaining. The movie is rather limited in scope, but it was still well shot for such a simple movie and very competently directed.
