Kimi is the latest film from Steven Soderbergh, also known for the latest Ocean's Eleven series, Erin Brockovich, and Contagion. It primarily stars Zoe Kravitz and takes place during a time we can all relate to--COVID pandemic era. Here's a quick review!
What's It About?
Welcome to modern day 2021 where we are still living in a post pandemic society full of masks and work-from-home office set ups. We see a man do a Zoom interview with a news channel. He appears to be wearing a suit, and his Zoom background is that of styled bookcase, one you would see in an office.
Apparently, he is the CEO of a company called Amygdala, who are the creators behind the Alexa-esque smart-home device called Kimi. They're about to file for their IPO. When the interview ends, we see the man stand up from his shabby desk in his basement, and go back upstairs, still wearing his pajamas.
Now we meet Angela Childs (Kravitz), who is brilliant tech worker. In fact, she writes code to resolve tickets that come from all of Kimi's device recordings. But there's a small quirk. She has agoraphobia, coupled with a mild case of obsessive compulsive disorder.
Her daily routine is the same: wake up and observe same neighbors from apartment window, workout, shower, brush teeth and get to work. Oh, and she's an avid Kimi user as well.
We learn that despite her agoraphobia and the pandemic, she has still been able to develop some type of relationship with her neighbors. Including a romantic one with a man from the building across from her. But she draws the line at exiting her apartment. Angela he can't even make it downstairs without suffering a nervous breakdown.
Her relationship with her mother is also strained. And there is something from her past that is the deliberate cause of her current mental disorder.
However, one day while going about her work, she comes across a Kimi recording where a woman seems to have been assaulted, and possibly murdered. She's incessant about alerting her superiors. But they all shrug her off.
So is she paranoid or is there really something going on? If Angela really believes in herself, she must face her greatest fear.
Watch It or Not?
Soderbergh is a really good film-maker, and this thriller was definitely entertaining. I think if you can make a movie where there is just one character, in one setting, pretty entertaining, then you've done a pretty good job.
Kimi also captures really well the current times we live in. There's limited personal contact and we all operate from screens, behind the safety of our own doors. Are we the ones losing touch with reality?
