Poor Things is a work of madness.
Like many great works of art, you can approach that statement from several angles. There is the story itself, borne from the boundary-shattering experiments of a brilliant but demented scientist. A step above is a glorious mishmash of tones, themes, visual styles, and camera techniques that would eviscerate most filmmakers. But Yorgos Lanthimos is no ordinary filmmaker, and this film is a brilliant thesis for his importance within the art form.
To get there, we start with Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), the latest experiment of trans-species surgeon Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Baxter found Bella as a recently deceased woman who died by suicide and chose to re-animate her corpse. She has a young woman’s body but an infant’s mind. Dr. Baxter largely shelters her from the outside world, tracking her rapid emotional and mental development with the help of his pupil Max (Ramy Youssef). Bellaโs development soon turns sexual, and at the urging of the rakish Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), she embarks on an adventure with him to explore the worldโs sensual delights. Her experiences with Wedderburn expose her to the full spectrum of human living, everything Baxter tried shielding her from.
Poor Things is the pinnacle of experimentation. The film simultaneously tests the barriers of multiple thematic intersections: nature and nurture, science and faith, societal convention and personal agency, femininity and masculinity, sexual freedom and repression, and tradition and modernity. Rather than getting bogged down by the heady complexities, Lanthimos is downright gleeful in taking his scalpel and cleaving chunks of flesh from the material.
The work starts at the productionโs foundations. Lanthimos crafts a Victorian-era Europe that evades space, time, and even reality. Chimeric creatures graze in monochromatic gardens while the skies above Lisbon bleed maniacally vivid, otherworldly colors. Deranged whimsy is in the DNA of every craft element, from James Price and Shona Heathโs exquisite set designs to Holly Waddingtonโs subtly modern period costumes. Lanthimos highly regards this zany invented world but avoids vanity and conceit in filming it. His camera work has an inherent joy as he toys with perspective, lens technique, and shot composition to engulf us in his twisted fantasy. Half of the filmโs fun is in the unexpected. You never quite know how Lanthimos will frame a shot or how cinematographer Robbie Ryan will play with color. From the outset, they establish a trust that their imagery will be astounding in its beauty and vitality.
The other half of Poor Things’s enjoyment is how ruthlessly hilarious it is. Based on Alasdair Grayโs 1992 novel, Tony McNamara’s screenplay is relentless in tossing out the twisted humor at its core. The comedy is consistently dry but wide-ranging. Laughs can come from Maxโs disbelief at Dr. Baxterโs unorthodoxy and Duncan falling up the stairs to meet Bella for the first time. Bella herself is ferociously funny, with her unspoiled self-possession, insistence on taking every experience at face value, and unwavering honesty catalyzing the best humor. Lanthimos matches the scriptโs wit by dialing his deep appreciation for the absurd to its highest possible level. (We get another delightfully ridiculous dance sequence, even more so than in The Favourite.) His sharp direction and love of surrealist imagery ensures that outrageous, unhinged energy is the default setting.
Lanthimos does this wildly inventive work to determine what it means to be alive within a deeply contradictory world. As a re-animated woman, Bella lacks the social conditioning we collectively experience from birth. Dr. Baxterโs emphasis on scientific reasoning shapes every interaction. Lanthimos gleans humor from Bellaโs bewilderment, boredom, and horror at the social constructs that defy her logical foundations. He also highlights the power of self-determination and how even the strictest environments canโt fully extinguish it. Bellaโs world is unapologetically demented, but there is beauty. Thereโs wonder in her sexual encounters, regardless of position, partner, or circumstance. Even amidst attempts to control or diminish her, Bella finds companions that affirm her search for freedom and herself. Her freedom is so persistent that she discovers, on her own, a profoundly human trait: compassion. Bella is a force of her own making, more than an experiment.
Reuniting with Lanthimos after The Favourite, Emma Stone is the perfect actor to bring Bellaโs unique journey to life. Her performance is spectacular, a fearlessly committed turn that never once feels self-conscious or insincere. Her comedic instincts have never been sharper, and her dramatic beats are thoughtful. It is, far and away, the best performance of her career to date and possibly the best of the year. The rest of the cast is nearly note-perfect. Mark Ruffalo hops off the rails in the best way as Duncan Wedderburn, relishing being the greatest possible vessel for pathetically toxic masculinity. Ramy Youssef is very effective as the audience surrogate, shattering the comedic tension with a perfectly delivered line or look of disbelief. The only actor who stands out for the wrong reason is Jerrod Carmichael, who undercuts his charming screen presence with surprisingly flat and off-rhythm line readings.
One could walk away from Poor Things and consider it a meta autobiography. Yorgos Lanthimos is the Frankenstein of cinema, and this film is his monster, a masterpiece of derangement and experiment. Even at its most excessive, it feels like something indispensable that only he could contribute. Poor Things is indeed a work of madness, and itโs what we need in an increasingly algorithmic world. Let the demented genius work.
Poor Things was chosen to be part of the Main Slate section at the 2023 New York Film Festival. The film is set to debut in theaters on December 8, 2023 courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Writer: Tony McNamara
Rated: R
Runtime: 141m
[youtube https://youtu.be/RlbR5N6veqw?si=fCK5zgsyjoseeOU8]
Yorgos Lanthimos is the Frankenstein of cinema, and this film is his monster, a masterpiece of derangement and experiment. Even at its most excessive, it feels like something indispensable that only he could contribute. Poor Things is indeed a work of madness, and itโs what we need in an increasingly algorithmic world. Let the demented genius work.
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GVN Rating 9.5
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A late-stage millennial lover of most things related to pop culture. Becomes irrationally irritated by Oscar predictions that don’t come true.