"Kimi" was a film I had no intention of watching, but it was able to grip me rather quickly. It follows Angela Childs, a tech worker with agoraphobia who comes across a dangerous conspiracy that makes her face her greatest fear. A primary backdrop is the AI device Kimi that the company she works for is developing.

The first half of the film was great. In my opinion, it did a great job at portraying agoraphobia and Angela's struggles with her mental health. Utilising contemporary themes of the Covid pandemic, lockdown, work-at-home culture, and social isolation was a risky move, but it was interwoven fantastically into the narrative. Could have felt like a tacky attempt at reaching a modern audience, but it's an integral part of the story. Most of this part of the movie works off of character exploration, with a solid focus on realism. I enjoyed delving into layers of Angela's character, as well as the various details in the small environment she has surrounded herself with.

Past a certain point, once the plot really kicks in, is where my major issues with the film come. It was entertaining all the way through, I'll give it that. But it was so bloody stupid that it felt like an entirely different movie, one of my prime gripes - the tonal inconsistency. From an uncomfortable portrayal of a rarely explored mental health issue, we quickly rush into a thriller with completely ridiculous stakes. [spoiler]To start with, having three hitmen sent against Angela came out of left field, even with the set-up. The realism was broken, moreso with how incompetent they were. Trying to abduct her right next to a huge crowd. All those points about the information age, but no one would mention the attempted kindapping of a girl in the middle of a riot? Then they got her at her home and were left dumbfounded, legitimately stunned, when she issued a few commands at Kimi. Worst of all, the ending was fun, but completely ridiculous and out-of-place. The movie turned into a very violent version of "Home Alone", just end everything with a nailgun and hitmen who are afraid to use their guns. And to my disappointment, the ending was tone-deaf. Apparently, surviving an attempted assasination and murdering three of your assailants is the perfect way to kick off your recovery from mental illness! Because Angela appears completely happy, like all her struggles are now gone. Without a scene to suggest how she approached such changes in her life, only the aftermath.[/spoiler]

"Kimi" was a very intriguing film to see, but got marginally worse in quite the rapid fashion as it went on. It's a shame as I genuinely loved its more introspective set-up portion, before it delved into its actual plot. The mystery was disturbing, but the tonal shifts drove my suspense away, later leaving me only dumbfounded at what I'd just seen. Some great ideas in here, but they didn't contribute to as much as they should have in the end. One thing that remained consistenly great - Zoe Kravits's performance. Her mannerisms were quite varied and there was a lot of subtlety to her delivery.

Zoe Kravitz pretty much knocks it out of the park as a PTSD suffering, live action "Alexa" algorithm who overhears something through the titular "Kimi" device, not intended for non psychopathic "not with the cool folks" ears, and then makes the naïve mistake of thinking that her supervisors or their superiors would want to help, as the default response in most tech corporations is to either cover up anything nefarious, and or destroy anyone uncovering anything nefarious, unless it makes the company look SO horrible that they are forced to deal with it in a non homicidal manner, to get ahead of the backlash.

The setup is paced to allow you to somewhat understand the extent of her character, Angela Childs fears and phobias, although the explanation for them is glossed over with the standard "I was assaulted, and the police put me on trial instead of my attacker", rather than going into any in depth explanation. Yet, she still appears to have a completely intact and fully functioning libido, as evidenced by her apparently frequent "booty calls" with her would be paramour, Terry Hughes, who lives in the loft across the street, in a neighborhood where no one appears to be able to afford curtains or blinds, and are content to peruse and ogle each other, and not feel the least bit creeped out about it. But perhaps that's just me. Modern times, I guess...

Things pick up when she FINALLY realizes that the good guys are the bad guys, the Calvary ain't coming, and she's going to have to save herself, although, for a supposedly tech savvy person, she makes a few rookie mistakes such as not turning off her phone, removing the battery and SIM card, or disposing of it and using a burner phone if all else fails. Also, going straight to the folks her supervisors were hesitant to call in the first place, AFTER she realizes they mean her harm rather than helping her, but then again, it does make her more sympathetic in that she's not an omnipotent savant, but a very smart, somewhat damaged person simply trying to do the right thing.

The action ratchets up in the third act as someone we had questions about in the first two acts (...yes @JimDarko, that is INDEED Kevin McCallister's older brother "Buzz") who turns up seemingly out of nowhere to try to help. Things get pretty sketchy when Angela has the opportunity to turn the tables on the baddies with the help of her electronic helper / nemesis, and let's just say, she like "Lethal Weapon's" Murtaugh, "nails em' all".

Hmmmm, who knew that justifiable homicide was the cure for PTSD and Agoraphobia?

I enjoyed it, you might too, and like Forrest Gump, "That is all I have to say about that!!"...

NEW SODERBERGH! NEW SODERBERGH!

It’s three in the morning, but I’m gonna try and put down some coherent thoughts.
This is exactly what I expected from a Soderberg thriller, and I mean that in the best way possible. I love his work and this is no exception.

The technical filmmaking elements here are great: camerawork, editing, and its general sense of scene-to-scene rhythm. Feels methodical and elegant while still being fun and watchable. There are quite a few sequences that will stick with me for a while. Like how personal the stakes are in this and how well Zoë Kravitz handles her role. Reminded me a lot of Aneesh Chaganty’s Run in the way it frames and establishes its story.
The biggest problems for me: It loses some of its rhythm around the middle and doesn’t feel as fleshed out as it could have been. Given how much I love David Koepp’s other works, I was a bit sad to see a lot of my qualms falling to the story writing/structuring. Few problems aside, I had a great time!

Guess I’ll have to check out No Sudden Move now 👀

Side note: Watched this down in my room which means my HomePod Mini was looming right below my screen the whole time. Considering that the 4D experience.

Hadn’t stopped thinking about this since I first watched it, so I finally revisited it!

Loved it even more this time around. The score and cinematography still might be my favorite aspects of this, it curates a thrilling and functional style. The direction and performances stood out to me a little more on this viewing to, sublime stuff. Hitchcock-influenced Soderbergh is too powerful.

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"KIMI contains the narrative potential and impactful cinematography that movies by Steven Soderbergh (No Sudden Move) always have, but not even a superb performance from Zoë Kravitz (The Batman) can hide some issues with the developed themes.

Technologically, the proximity of this world to ours is frighteningly realistic, but the attempts to tackle agoraphobia and invasion of privacy aren't all successful. The protagonist's arc focuses on her ability to overcome past trauma, something that is mostly well-done.

However, the abrupt conclusion of the whole story not only lessens and simplifies PTSD but raises numerous plot-related logical questions, in addition to a moral one concerning stalking.

It will likely create some division within the general audience."

Rating: C