nonton film
A stylish thriller, this engaging tech-based crime drama starring Zoe Kravitz centers on a Seattle woman with agoraphobia who is forced to confront her fear in order to uncover the truth behind an unsettling recording. Taking inspiration from real-life incidents, this well-acted film has eye-catching cinematography and a protagonist you’ll root for.
Kimi (2019)
Steven Soderbergh is one of our most consistent filmmakers, and his latest made-for-streaming mousetrap, Kimi (***1/2 on HBO Max), proves that he can adapt to the current climate of repurposed, reduced content and shorter runtimes. This taut techno thriller about an agoraphobic troubleshooter for a voice-based virtual assistant isn’t exactly original, but it is well executed with an excellent central performance by Zoe Kravitz and a brilliant score by Cliff Martinez that harks back to Hitchcockian sounds.
Angela (Zoe Kravitz) works from home as a human receiver of instructions sent to the world’s version of Alexa or Siri. As a “voice stream interpreter” she sifts through the recordings of mistakes that the AI Kimi makes with home consumers – like misinterpreting slang or misunderstanding a request to play ’Me’ by Taylor Swift – and adjusts the software accordingly. Her work, combined with a recent trauma that isn’t entirely explained, has made her agoraphobic and caused her to relapse into her compulsion to hide from the outside world. She has a combative relationship with a neighbor doing construction in the apartment building above her and an ongoing, very socially distanced relationship with a man across the street who she watches through his binoculars. For more details please visit bos21
As a result, her life is an existential nightmare of isolation and frustration. It is a remarkably authentic depiction of what people are dealing with during the COVID pandemic, particularly for those who work remotely and have been unable to rejoin the workforce or even get out of their homes, or those who suffer from a mental illness that prevents them from being able to function in the outside world. It also is a great example of how an imaginative script (from Friend of the Blog David Koepp), elegant direction, smart camera angles, and a superbly compelling central performance can revivify tired genre conventions.
Kimi is a fascinating film, and not just because of the great performances by Kravitz and her supporting players. It is a movie that captures the sense of paranoia and disconnection that many of us are feeling as we continue to struggle through the COVID pandemic, and it does so with a clever, unpredictable plot that never feels dated or predictable. It is a solid, effective thriller that deserves an audience beyond the specialized subset of tech-geeks and Soderbergh fans. I hope it finds a broad, enthusiastic home on streaming platforms and in movie theaters. It is a welcome addition to the growing body of high-quality, original nonton film that is available now. Watch it and enjoy!