KIMI (2022) Review!!

Synopsis – An agoraphobic Seattle tech worker uncovers evidence of a crime.

My Take – Given the current landscape, I think we can all agree that Steven Soderbergh is arguably the most versatile filmmaker out there. Marking his third release for HBO Max, following the uneven comedy drama Let Them All Talk (2020) and the very enjoyable period crime thriller No Sudden Move (2021), this time around he heads into thriller genre.

With prolific writer David Koepp (Panic Room, Spider-Man, Mission: Impossible) penning the script, the film at first glance may seem like a simple tech-tinged riff on classic paranoid setups about women who shut themselves away in their homes, only to learn that the world inside may be even more terrifying than the one outside. But mixed in with director Soderbergh‘s visually distinct and kinetic style, this angst-ridden gripping new thriller ends up being a nifty little addition to the shut-in canon.

Slickly made, crisply paced, and minimalist to the point of being experimental, the film is playful and daring and keeps its feet seriously in the genre, and would probably make for a good double feature with director Soderbergh‘s very own unfair under-seen psychological horror Unsane (2018). And also like a lot of his output of late, it’s a sleek, low-budget genre exercise that’s eerily keyed into our current world situation.

Set during the COVID-19 pandemic, the story follows Angela Childs (Zoë Kravitz), an agoraphobic who works from the confines of her flat for the Amygdala Corporation refining command streams for their virtual assistant KIMI. A sexual assault survivor, Angela’s condition has aggravated by the pandemic, leaving her in a position where she’s unable to move past the front door at all.

She mostly minds her own business, but isn’t averse to flirting with a man across the street, a prosecutor named Terry Hughes (Byron Bowers), with whom she has developed a casual romantic relationship.

However, her life takes a turn when during one of her reviews of KIMI commands she comes across a stream which has seemingly recorded what sounds like a murder of a woman named Samantha Gerrity (Erika Christensen). But as she begins to dig deeper into the stream she’s met with resistance from her company’s corporate bureaucracy who not only start doing their best to cover up her report, but also slowly begin to prove that they are also willing to discredit Angela up to the point of eliminating her.

While the film a while to get going and a well-trodden format, it makes for an engaging ride when it does due to its fresh spin. For sleek 89 minutes, writer David Koepp and director Soderbergh keeps things refreshingly simple and stringently devoid of any extraneous stuffing.

With an opening tease concerning the financial aspects of the company behind the titular virtual assistant, the film incorporates many recurring elements from the corporate corruption thriller sub-genre, all without any need to mess things up to make the proceedings interesting as the tension Angela feels throughout is more than enough to capture the viewer’s interest.

Yes, it is mostly predictable, but both Koepp and director Soderbergh keep most of it grounded, avoiding the clumsy narrative leaps these films often resort to, and allow the conspiracy to unravel with quick ease.

Sure, they utilize the COVID-19 pandemic to tell a story and examine its impact upon a character, but it never feels like its timeliness is being used as a gimmick as it did with films like Songbird (2020) and Locked Down (2021). It also helps that Soderbergh as a cinematographer brings his usually visual flair to the proceedings as he is methodical in his crafting of interior scenes as well as when he finally heads outside, using the unease felt by Angela for great visual storytelling.

This procedural visual approach matches Koepp’s screenplay, which carefully builds Angela’ story through a number of unassuming interactions. One standout sequence I loved was when two nameless thugs in a van try to kidnap Angela and some nearby homeless rights protestors block the van from escaping and pull her out of the van and help her to safety.

Admittedly the film loses some of its tension after the hour mark when everything is laid out, but that only means it goes from being great to being good, and even if the stuff in the last third pales in comparison to the first hour, it gives a deliciously entertaining pay-off to Angela’s arc with some dark as black humor in how she utilizes the virtual assistant to take on the ones who mean to harm her.

It wouldn’t work nearly as well without the terrific Zoë Kravitz, who carries the film from beginning to end. It is a realistic, versatile performance that is likeable even if Angela isn’t necessarily a likeable character. Angela’s anxiety earns your sympathy, and her persistence and resourcefulness earn your respect. She can be cold and distant around other people, to Terry or even her mother. She can also be reserved and defensive, complete with impatient eye-rolls that Kravitz performs perfectly.

The film also features a solid supporting turns from Byron Bowers, Rita Wilson, David Wain, Andy Daly, Jacob Vargas, Robin Givens, Charles Halford, Derek Del Gaudio, Devin Retray, and Jaime Camil. While Erika Christensen leaves an impact in a small role. On the whole, ‘KIMI’ is a sleek tech conspiracy thriller made entertaining by Soderbergh‘s style and a strong Zoë Kravitz performance.