KIMI (Steven Soderbergh, 2022)

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(****+ / *****) :: Nothing quite like Soderbergh putting on his genre hat – THE LIMEY, OUT OF SIGHT, and OCEAN'S 11 – and paying homage to his influences / inspirations while exploring modern (and timeless) themes in tight, taut, 90-minute packages: in the case of KIMI, Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW, De Palma's BLOW OUT, and Coppola's THE CONVERSATION (which I really, really need to revisit). Zoe Kravitz is exceptional and, until her turn here, I never imagined Rita Wilson as a company line corporate shill. More like this, please.

"Rather than being a distraction, the technology underlines Wilde’s themes..."

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(via The Economist):

"Accompanied by a camera team, Ms Snook begins to narrate Wilde’s tale, her image appearing on a large screen suspended above the stage. She switches between Dorian, Lord Henry and other parts by turning to different cameras and swapping costumes and wigs. It is an amusing if simple trick, you think.

But, like instruments in a jazz ensemble, soon more characters, cameras, screens and Snooks join in. The screens relay both live shots of the actor and pre-recorded snippets of her in assorted roles (she plays 26 in all). The taped Snooks interact with the live one and each other in a tour de force of dramatic timing. As Lord Henry she shares a table with five on-screen diners; as Dorian she is chased through a forest by a virtual nemesis.

Rather than being a distraction, the technology underlines Wilde’s themes. He thought the main characters were all refracted versions of himself; the one-woman format hints that they are jostling facets of a fractured personality. And the screens emphasise the link between Dorian’s vanity and the narcissism of the selfie era, in which many people hide a version of themselves offline."