Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Recently I browsed HBO Max, looking for some movie that could help escape the desolate reality of the world today. I went through poster after poster, browsing fantasy, some dramas, and even westerns. Anything to be launched into a different realm. Then I came across a movie named "Kimi". I thought to myself, “well Zoe Kravitz is in this and that’s good enough for me!” I had no idea what to expect.
The movie comes on and the setting is 2021. Go figure, that’s exactly what I was looking for! (Not really) However, that was ok. There was something that kept me interested. It seemed a little too familiar.
The camera pans in and you see Zoe (Angela in the movie) working at her computer. Yes, she’s working from home and it’s the pandemic.
So much for escaping.
Angela’s job is to resolve communication issues in a product called “KIMI”. Kimi is most similar to the Amazon Alexa. You ask Kimi a question and it will have the answers for you. Sometimes the answers are not sufficient. So that’s where Angela comes in. She goes through fixing the answers to various questions and situations. So I’m guessing this is how Amazon does it? I have no idea.
What is known is that Angela is confined to her home and doesn’t like to leave. Without spoiling too much, we can come to this conclusion because she has a relationship (of some kind) with a man from across the street. He lives in another apartment building. They look at each other from their respective windows and text each other to meet up at a food truck. The food truck is on the street right outside their buildings. Angela gets ready but as she goes to the door to leave something happens. She cannot physically get herself to leave. She starts to visualize and feel all the things that could go wrong if she left her home.
As a result, she turns around and goes back to work. Then she looks out the window and down at the food truck. There, is the man she is supposed to meet. He waits for a while and then leaves, but he doesn’t seem too disappointed. The reason is revealed that Angela has OCD and is agoraphobic- meaning she fears open places and crowded places.
We also find out that she works for a company called the Amygdala corporation.
This is a very important detail.
I’ve seen many discussions about this movie, and very few mention this. I think it goes with the overall theme and feel of the movie.
In order to understand why you have to first understand what the amygdala is and its function. The amygdala is located in the medial temporal lobe. The medial temporal lobe is slightly in front of the hippocampus. Can you tell I like the brain?
Now let’s talk about its function.
I am not a neuroscientist of any sort and in order to truly break down the Amygdala and how it functions, you would have to break down more parts of the brain. Like the Medial Temporal Lobe and the Hippocampus.
But in simple terms, the brain has to recognize fear in some way in order to get the body to respond to it. That is needed to make adjustments in order to put up a proper defense.
The response to this fear starts in the amygdala.
For example, let’s take a look at our ancestors. They had to deal with different threats than what we face today. They could walk out of whatever shelter they were in and see; let's say a sabertooth tiger. That immediate sight triggers a fear response. Telling your body that you need to either fight or flee. This response then triggers changes that need to happen in the body in order for us to be efficient in these situations of danger.
These changes include:
- Becoming hyper alert
- dilated pupils
- acceleration to breathing
- rise in heart rate
- rise in blood pressure
- blood flow to skeletal muscles increase
Then that information goes through the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. This is to help the brain interpret the perceived threat. The example that the Smithsonian uses: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-happens-brain-feel-fear-180966992/(where most of this information is from) is the difference between seeing a lion in the wild as opposed to seeing one at the zoo.
Your response to seeing a lion in the wild will be drastically different from seeing one at the zoo. The reason is that you know that the lion at the zoo is not a threat. Your brain put that together for you. It suppressed the amygdala fear response. Letting your brain know that you are, in fact, ok.
Now back to Kimi.
As stated, Angela works for a corporation called the Amygdala Corporation. One day she was going through her daily routine. The constant scrubbing and listening for faults. Until she came across a conversation. A conversation that sounded kind of strange. It was between two people. A man and a woman. Then, the conversation starts to get out of control. An argument ensues, and the man and woman start to shout at each other. The language intensifies and it turns violent. At this point, there isn’t much being said. What we then start to hear is a physical altercation between them. Angela cannot believe what is taking place now. She frantically scrubs back and forth to make out what is happening. Then it becomes clear: A horrifying realization. Angela discovers that the young woman becomes a victim of sexual assault and rape.
This absolutely destroys Angela. I don’t want to turn this into a full-blown movie review so let’s cut to the chase here. After Angela hears this horrendous incident, she has to make a decision. Does she report this? Or does she just sit back and let this go unnoticed? Angela decides the best thing to do is to take this and report her findings. She is empathetic. This is why I think the pandemic is a good setting because there have been a lot of trauma-induced events.
Now, the trick for Angela is that she has to leave the house to report her findings. She must go outside, which is a literal nightmare for her. Angela usually let that fear hold her back. But not this time. She has to put aside that fear and do what she believes is right. So that’s what she did. She walked right out of that door to report her findings. Her journey was tough to watch. What she feared was starting to unfold right in front of us. She whipped a hood over her head You could see the panic and discomfort on her face as she tightly pulled the strings of the hood over her head. There was a frantic pace as she walked past people trying to get to the office. It was all very uncomfortable.
After she presents the information to the proper authorities. She believes that the corporation should do something about this. However, ultimately, the corporation tries to get Angela to rethink this decision (wouldn’t look good on their end.) So, they try to destroy the evidence. Resulting in a chain of events that then sees Angela literally fighting for her life. She stays alive and the information gets out. The aftermath sees the CEO of the Amygdala corporation getting arrested. Angela is now a hero.
This all sounds pretty crazy I know. The ending shows a shot of Angela’s room, but Angela is not there. She is at the food truck with the same guy she was reluctant to go out with. The fears she once had are now seemingly pushed to the side.
Why write about this?
I believe that mental health should be taken seriously and I think a part of that is understanding brain function. As someone who has and is still somewhat battling anxiety, I believe that a movie like this could continue those important conversations. It may be a reach, however, with the proper information and exercises, we can help not only ourselves but others as well. The question is: Did any of that actually happen? Or did Angela play all of that out in her head? First hand I can tell you that it isn’t out of the ordinary to think that terrible events will happen. After all, that is what anxiety does to you.
This is important because when we set out to do the things that we wish to do, there is always that voice telling us why it is a bad idea. You think about all the bad things that could happen. You rarely think about the good that could come out of it. As we mentioned, this also has to do with that almond size part of your brain called the Amygdala. Which is why I thought that was a very unique thing to call a company.
Angela wins against them, does that ultimately mean that she has won against her own? Seeing Angela face her fears and overcome them is vital. Again, this could very well be a reach and I’m fine with that. Nevertheless, we should definitely visit and continue to take mental and brain health seriously. Without it, we are not ourselves. Stay healthy my friend. Stay true, it’s ok to be you.
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