‘Kimi’ is a techno-thriller for the pandemic era — review
"Kimi" follows a young tech worker is faced with a corporate conspiracy when she hears a crime through an Alexa-like smart speaker
There’s a scene in “Kimi”, the newest movie from Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh (“Ocean’s 11”), when protagonist Angela (Zoë Kravitz) puts her AirPods on to drown out the sounds of her Seattle loft. It mirrored me in my New York City apartment watching the movie with my headphones to drown out the noise coming from the street (and my radiator). When she put her right earbud in, my right headphone went quiet. When she put on the left, my left went silent. It’s a small detail, but one that was crucial to my viewing experience.
That was the moment I knew that Kimi was something special.
First of all, for its immersive quality. Like it was made for me to watch it in my apartment with my headphones on immersed in the world. Second, unlike many movies made in the pandemic era, Kimi doesn’t shy away from living in that world. Actually, the pandemic helps drive the plot — a twist on the “Rear Window” psychological thriller. Angela already suf…