Film

Kimi

Name: Kimi
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Crime
Released: 2022
Cast: Zoë Kravitz, Byron Bowers, Jaime Camil, Erika Christensen, Derek DelGaudio

A tech worker with crippling agoraphobia finds a recording of a brutal crime and must face her worst nightmare—the outside world—to get anyone to care. Zoë Kravitz carries this tense, claustrophobic thriller with raw vulnerability. It's a smart, intimate pressure cooker about how systems ignore women, especially isolated ones. Lean, mean, and genuinely unsettling.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a lean, paranoid thriller where tension grows from one woman's cramped world and the gadgets that surveil it, and you enjoy being trusted to keep up.

Skip it if you want slow-burn character work, since this one is brisk and its people are sketched more than explored, leaning on its premise over its heroine's inner life.

What it asks of you: Under 90 minutes and tightly wound, mostly confined to one apartment and one jittery woman's nerves; you have to stay locked in as the scenery stays put.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Rear Window1954

The template: witness from isolation, camera and sound as evidence, nobody believes her. Hitchcock's masterpiece about watching, guilt, and the stories we construct. Pure suspense machinery.

But Black and white, mid-century pacing—some find it slow. The gender politics, though era-appropriate, can feel dated and uncomfortable.

Unfriended2014

Another thriller where a woman uncovers dark secrets through technology and must navigate a world (even if digital) hostile to her survival. Genuinely creative approach to modern isolation and vulnerability.

But The gimmick—everything happens on screen—can feel grating. Found-footage energy without the handheld camera excuse.

A Cure for Wellness2017

Isolate protagonist, unsettling spa/institution, gorgeous cinematography, and paranoia that might be justified. Gore Verbinski making pure atmosphere and dread with style and patience.

But Two hours forty minutes of slow-burn psychological horror. The plot takes odd turns that some find pretentious rather than transgressive.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Kimi

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Synecdoche, New York2008

Both are about surveillance, construction of reality, and the terror of being unseen by systems designed to protect you.

Charlie Kaufman's labyrinth: a man creating an elaborate simulation of the world while his actual life collapses. Like Kimi inverted—isolation not as protection but as creative prison. Both trap their protagonists in architecture of their own making.

But Deliberately abstruse and self-indulgent. Can feel pretentious or incomprehensible. Three hours of Philip Seymour Hoffman's existential crisis might exhaust rather than enthrall.

Come True2020

Young woman trapped in a sleep study, gaslighting authority figures, body horror and existential dread. Stylish and deeply disquieting, with a synth score that gets under your skin.

But Deliberately vague and withholding. The ending feels almost hostile to plot clarity. Might infuriate you.

The Lighthouse2019

Two men, one small space, paranoia and madness. Black-and-white, formally ravishing, and suffocating. Robert Eggers weaponizing claustrophobia and gaslighting into high art.

But Deliberately cryptic, sexually transgressive, and punishing in its density. Not a fun watch; it's an ordeal you survive.

His House2020

Refugee woman haunted by past trauma, a home that becomes a nightmare, institutional indifference. Horror as metaphor for systems that don't protect the vulnerable. Brutally smart.

But Disturbing content about violence and displacement. The horror is often too real to feel cathartic.

We Need to Talk About Kevin2011

Woman isolated by catastrophe, fragmented memories, society's judgment. Lynne Ramsay using form and structure to create dread and complicity. Devastatingly uncomfortable.

But Extremely bleak and withholding. Asks you to sit with horror and ambiguity without resolution. Many find it punishing rather than rewarding.

Blow Out1981

Sound engineer obsessed with a recording he thinks is evidence of murder. De Palma's best: obsession, technology, corruption, and a protagonist nobody believes. Thrilling.

But Deliberately artificial De Palma style—feels distant and theatrical. Ends brutally. The lead is a man; the female character serves his narrative.

A Tale of Two Sisters2003

Two isolated daughters, unreliable reality, gorgeous cinematography, and a twist that recontextualizes everything. Korean horror that trusts you to piece things together.

But Oblique and elusive—some find it frustratingly obscure. Subtitle-dependent for English speakers. Slow in places.

The Conversation1974

Both are about people trapped by evidence they've obtained, their isolation deepened by their knowledge, and systems that protect themselves rather than truth-seekers.

Paranoid surveillance thriller: a sound engineer records a conversation, becomes obsessed with its meaning, and unravels wondering if he's caused harm. Gene Hackman as moral coward. Coppola's masterpiece about complicity and helplessness.

But Deliberately slow and ambiguous. The emotional payoff is bleak nihilism, not catharsis. 1970s paranoia, not modern tech—may feel dated in its specific anxieties.