Cape-set ‘Strange Kindness’ takes empathy to its furthest reaches
What does empathy at its most bizarre extreme look like? “Strange Kindness” may have the answer.
The film, which premiered at the Boston Underground Film Festival Thursday, tells the story of an unnamed, injured gunman on the run from police after committing a shooting in a Cape Cod home. While on the run, he stumbles into the home of Chris, a highly reclusive and terse cancer patient played by Deirdre Madigan. Over a tense hour and a half, Chris harbors the shooter and brusquely helps him, keeping his presence a secret from visitors and interrogating him as life slowly drains out of him.
According to director Joseph Mault, the film is inherently political. “He didn’t break in with a revolver, it’s an assault rifle,” he said. Still, Mault wanted the film to focus more on the characters and how far compassion can stretch.
“I started with the image of Chris finding the young man in there, and she seems awkwardly chill — you’re like, okay, this lady’s hard as hell,” he explained, adding that he built the film’s premise out by asking himself what would lead to being in Chris’s position. “You keep answering what scenario would put you in this situation.”
“Strange Kindness” is Mault’s debut feature film, though not his first film project. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago as a sculptor, but video has always been a prominent component of his art. Before “Strange Kindness,” he shot a documentary following indie band Glow in the Dark Flowers titled “Make Out,” and has directed music videos for hip-hop artists Armand Hammer and Earl Sweatshirt, among others.
“My dad owns Orleans Camera on Cape Cod, and I grew up around cameras,” said Mault. “I learned a lot about minimum entry to producing a pleasing image. I think that led directly to being able to shoot ‘Strange Kindness.’”
“Strange Kindness” uses simplicity to its advantage. Beyond a few brief, disjointed flashbacks to Chris and the shooter’s pasts, the audience is left to bear witness as details slowly trickle in through the characters’ stark interactions.
“The film is dreaming for you,” said Mault. “It’s shifting focus for a story where you don’t know what the story is yet. You’re just being pulled along for a little while.”
Mault and his girlfriend, Leanne McLaughlin, who produced the film and plays Chris’s caretaker, Rose, are Cape natives. Both 34, they grew up together before moving away, reconnecting, and eventually moving to Orleans during the pandemic. When the idea for “Strange Kindness” began germinating in summer 2018, they both knew that they wanted to shoot it at home.
McLaughlin said while it didn’t have to be set on Cape Cod specifically, it needed to have “that seaside town feel,” adding, “They all have a sadness that’s kind of looming, especially in the off season.”
The familiarity of the Cape set the wheels in motion, and McLaughlin and Mault spent nearly two years scouting locations in their backyard. The film doesn’t overcomplicate itself with setting, featuring few locations and entirely natural lighting. The woodsy home in Brewster that the majority of the film takes place in was discovered while Mault was working as a carpenter in May 2022.
“I was on a job to go replace a bunch of windows in this place. As soon as I walked in, I got butterflies,” he said.
He added that he was nervous approaching both his boss and the homeowner about using the location (the carpentry job would be delayed), but they both loved the idea.
“It was a cool opportunity to be like, right now I’m directing a film, but soon, I will replace all the windows on the set,” he said.
Mault and McLaughlin are waiting to hear from other festivals, but said they were thrilled it finally got to be seen by people other than friends and family, and are excited for audience discussions.
“Ideally, you’re left with something at the end that doesn’t get said on screen,” said Mault. “You get that last line, but the thing that happens right after the end of the film is what you’re left with.”