Steven Soderbergh has been prolific as of late, as Kimi, which stars Zoë Kravitz, will mark the fifth movie that the director has released since 2019 (impressive work for someone who had retired from movies in 2013; clearly it didn't last). The Oscar-winning director has also been a big proponent of movies playing on streaming services, as all of his most recent movies, including Kimi, have been streaming plays.
If nothing else, Steven Soderbergh always does something interesting with his movies, and Kimi looks to be the same. Here is everything we know about Kimi.
‘Kimi’ release date
Kimi is now available to watch exclusively on HBO Max, as the movie was released on Thursday, Feb. 10.
As an HBO Max original movie, Kimi is not going to have the same scenario as other big Warner Bros. movies that played on HBO Max in 2021, like Dune, King Richard and The Matrix Resurrections. Those movies all played simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max for the first 31 days of their release and were only available to subscribers to HBO Max’s $14.99 per month plan. Warner Bros stopped that practice in 2022. All movies that debut on HBO Max are exclusive to the streamer, will not be removed from its content lineup and are available to all subscribers.
This is the third straight Steven Soderbergh movie to only play on HBO Max, following 2020’s Let Them All Talk and 2021’s No Sudden Move. His other two previous movies, High Flying Bird and The Laundromat, were also streaming releases, but on Netflix.
'Kimi' reviews
What to Watch's review of Kimi is in, and while it praises the performance of star Zoë Kravitz and its brisk pace, the movie's attempts to go deeper struggle.
Read the full Kimi review right here.
‘Kimi’ plot
Warner Bros. has been mum on an official plot to Kimi. The synopsis shared on IMDb simply reads: “An agoraphobic Seattle tech worker uncovers evidence of a crime.” But thankfully, the recently released trailer gives us a better idea of what Kimi is about; and it looks a bit like Rear Window for the 21st century.
To summarize, Angela Childs is a tech worker whose job is to listen and monitor audio streams. When she hears one that she believes is evidence to a murder, she desperately tries to get someone to believe her and help her solve the crime. The script comes from David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man).
Where the movie gets its title is the name of Angela’s home assistant device, Kimi. Clearly inspired by Alexa, Kimi and other technology that are part of our lives are key pieces in the movie’s larger question — what if every breath, every sound, every moment was recorded?
‘Kimi’ trailer
The Kimi trailer puts Zoë Kravitz front and center in what is being built as a compelling thriller. Watch the trailer below.
‘Kimi’ cast
Zoë Kravitz has been impressing viewers as she continues to build up her list of credits, with Kimi set to be one of her biggest lead roles to date. The daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz, Zoë Kravitz has been acting since 2007, appearing in movies like X-Men: First Class, the Divergent franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. She was also part of the fantastic ensemble of HBO’s Big Little Lies and led the Hulu original series High Fidelity. 2022 looks to be a big year for the actress, as in addition to Kimi she will also star as Selina Kyle/Catwoman in The Batman, which is slated to release on March 4.
The rest of the Kimi cast includes Rita Wilson (Girls, Gloria Bell, Runaway Bride), Devin Ratray (Home Sweet Home Alone, Hustlers), Erika Christensen (Parenthood), India de Beaufort (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist), Byron Bowers (No Sudden Move, Honey Boy), Emily Kuroda (Gilmore Girls), Jacob Vargas (Sons of Anarchy), Jaime Camil (Schmigadoon!) and Robin Givens (Riverdale).
‘Kimi’ director Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh is one of the more unique directors in Hollywood today. After breaking out with Sex, Lies and Videotapes in 1989, Soderbergh has balanced studio and independent movies, all while maintaining his distinctive style. His credits include the Traffic (for which he won a Best Director Oscar), Erin Brockovich, the Ocean’s trilogy, Out of Sight, Contagion, Magic Mike, Behind the Candelabra and more. He took a break from filmmaking in the mid 2010s and created TV shows The Knick and Mosaic, but ultimately returned to his original medium where he has had at least one movie come out every year since 2017.
Another fun little fact about Soderbergh, he occasionally has used pseudonyms for his work as an editor (Mary Ann Bernard) or cinematographer (Peter Andrews) on his movies. So keep an eye out for those names the next time you watch a Soderbergh movie, including Kimi.
