Poor Things | Reelviews Movie Reviews (2024)

Is Poor Things a fantasy with comedic elements? Or perhaps,considering its Frankenstein underpinnings, a horror movie? Or maybe adrama that promotes feminist ideals and libertine philosophies? In reality, itmay be all of those things…and more. Most importantly, it is a breath of freshair, a truly original motion picture that breezes into theaterauditoriums and blows away the stale stench of stagnancy that has characterizedfar too many of 2023’s releases. What more can one reasonably expect from Greek-bornYorgos Lanthimos, a filmmaker who refuses to play by the rules and can add thisto an eclectic filmography that includes such titles as The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and The Favourite?

Poor Things might be considered a “return to form”for Lanthimos, whose previous effort, The Favourite, was as close toconventional as the director might ever come. Poor Things transpires ina bizarre alternate reality where a Frankenstein-like medical scientist namedDr. Godwin Baxter (a.k.a. “God,” played by Willem Dafoe), whose face looks morelike Boris Karloff (with its patchwork of scars) than Colin Clive, hasdiscovered the secret of animating dead bodies. The year in which the eventstranspire is allegedly 1800 but Lanthimos has taken liberties with many thingsand his re-imagining of various settings – Lisbon, London, Paris, a cruiseship, etc. – are hyper-stylized. This isn’t about historical recreation, it’sabout artistic license and it works wonderfully to emphasize the unreality ofthe story.

Dr. Baxter’s prize experiment is Bella Baxter (Emma Stone),his “daughter.” The original Bella committed suicide while pregnant. Baxter wasable to remove the brain of the unborn infant and implant it in the mother.When the movie opens, he is in the process of teaching the woman-child thebasics of mobility and language. To assist him, he recruits a young medicalstudent, Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef), who makes a meticulous log of Bella’sprogress while falling in love with her. Once she is sufficiently independentto speak for herself, she agrees to Max’s proposal of marriage, but there is acondition. She wants to see (and experience) the world. All-too-willing to helpher in this adventure is the cad Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), who plans touse her for sex then dump her in some foreign country. Things don’t go exactlyas planned, however. Bella proves to be sexually insatiable, wearing out poorDuncan, and he falls head-over-heels for her while she views him as little morethan a means to provide her with carnal pleasure. As they travel around Europe,Duncan becomes increasingly desperate while Bella gradually loses interest inhim as she explores her sexuality in increasingly extreme fashions.

Poor Things is darkly funny and deliciously raunchy. Itis as anti-Puritanical as one can imagine a film being. It bucks the currentmotion picture trend of keeping nudity off-screen. This isn’t gratuitous nakedness– Bella’s character development is all about her discovering sex and she neverhas any shame about her body or exploring new avenues of pleasure. It goeswithout saying that Stone will earn an Oscar nomination (at the least) for thisperformance. It’s easily the most challenging role of her career and arguably abetter example of her skills than the one for which she previously won a littlegold man (that would be La La Land). Mark Ruffalo is the perfect comedicfoil for her. Willem Dafoe once again plays a warped, twisted individual,although this time there’s a soft, mushy center at the heart of his monstrosity.Other notable supporting cast members include Kathryn Hunter as the madame atthe Paris brothel where Bella finds employment, Christopher Abbott as a darkfigure from Bella’s past, and Margaret Qualley as Bella’s “younger sister,”Felicity.

Visually, Poor Things is a feast, with Lanthimosconstantly engaging viewers with its imagery. The early scenes, which transpirewithin the cloistered confines of Baxter’s demesne, are presented inblack-and-white, unsubtly recalling the gothic look of the classic Universalmonster movies. Once Bella has moved into the outside world, the palettebecomes rich with a variety of hues. Costumes and set design feed into theaesthetic. And, as has been his trademark, the director frequently employsfish-eye lenses to give certain scenes a warped appearance.

The comedy is bold, sometimes macabre, and often in a MontyPython-esque vein. There are serious aspects to the storyline and PoorThings isn’t shy about making a point about the importance of a womanhaving control over her body. There’s also a pro-libertine, pro-atheist aspect.

The best thing about Poor Things isn’t the impeccableattention to detail, the well-realized screenplay, or the strong performances.It’s that this movie, more than almost every other 2023 title, challenges thekind of by-the-numbers approach that has dominated multiplex fare (with theonly apparent counterpoint being self-important, pretentious “art films” whoseentertainment value is virtually nonexistent). Poor Things offers anopportunity for cinematic discovery. It’s brave, unconventional, and unique andeasily one of the year’s best.

Poor Things (Ireland/United Kingdom/United States, 2023)