R 2023 Fantasy/Sci-Fi 2h 21m
In short, Poor Things is bonkers in both good and bad ways. I had been looking forward to seeing it for months and was glad the wait for it was finally over. Verdict: It was interesting, but it did not live up to the lofty expectations I had for it.
Dr. Godwin “God” Baxter (Willem DeFoe) is a mad scientist of the classic monster movie variety. He is a man of science--both in his vocation and because he was raised as an experiment by his father. Poor Things is a different take on the Frankenstein tale. Baxter is a stitched together man whose appearance frightens people. It is the monster who creates life: the beautiful Bella Baxter (Emma Stone). Bella was made from the body of a pregnant woman who had drowned. Baxter took the brain out of the pregnant woman, replaced it with the baby’s brain and reanimated the woman. Although DeFoe will likely receive acting nominations for his role, this movie belongs to Emma Stone.
Poor Things is Bella’s journey of development and awakening. She begins her life literally as a child in a woman’s body. She knows few words but has a quickly expanding vocabulary. Baxter's student, Max (Ramy Youssef) is hired to monitor her progress and quickly falls in love with her. Mark Ruffalo plays an obnoxious Lothario who swoops in and swoops Bella away. (I like Ruffalo, but didn’t think this was his best role.)
Someone could, should and hopefully will write an essay about the feminism, sexuality, freedom and empowerment of Poor Things. I look forward to reading that but I’m not writing it; I’m just a dummy reviewing a movie. Bella is exposed to a lot of society’s expectations and mores. She reads and debates philosophy and grows in many ways. However, I feel the need to warn you, Dear Reader, that a surprising amount of the movie is dedicated to Bella’s sexual awaking with multiple scenes of simulated sex and full frontal nudity.
While Poor Things is a good movie with solid acting, I can’t fully recommend it. It seems to relish creating audience discomfort. The movie’s score is played with instruments that were either out of tune or played in odd keys. I’m not sure but I can say the music was disconcerting. The director (Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite) also played with visuals to be off putting. Some stretches of the movie were black and white. He also used fish eye and peephole lens. And, again, copious amounts of nudity to push viewers to be uncomfortable. The movie is a lot. It’s nuts. It’s not going to be for everybody but it was interesting and provided a lot to unpack.
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