Poor Things is a dark comedy sci-fi movie following Bella (Emma Stone) as she is brought back to life and rediscovers life and all its pleasures. With phenomenal performances from Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Ruffalo, all led by Yorgos Lanthimos, expect to see Poor Things a lot come award season.
The conversation starts and ends with Emma Stone’s performance. The story follows her resurrected with the brain of an infant, and she expertly displays mental and physical growth as her new brain develops and matures. For example, she walks as if an alien came to Earth and tried to fit in with humans. She truly is believable as a stranger in this new world, serving as our surrogate. She is legitimately hilarious, whether threatening to punch a baby or just her general mannerisms. In such a stylized movie, she feels like she belongs, and she lets it all out. Not only that, but she brings the emotion as she is relearning about humanity all over again.
Around her, both Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe deliver standout performances. Ruffalo in particular was extremely fun to watch. Similar to Joaquin Phoenix in Napoleon, he gets to play a horny little weirdo, but here he gets to play it up and not take himself too seriously. It is a major reason why the comedy worked for me. Dafoe gets to be the mad scientist with truly incredible-looking prosthetics. Serving as the father figure to Bella, he balances love for his new “daughter” while embracing the scientific achievement that is bringing people back to life with brain transplants.
The movie is a spectacle to behold. The color grading shifts from sepia-toned shots to full color to mark the exploration of a new world Bella. The camera movement is so aesthetically pleasing to watch. Lanthimos makes the camera feel like one of us, tracking the characters as they move around a room and zooming to add emphasis to certain moments. It truly is a spectacle to sit back to and be completely immersed. The set pieces are also gorgeous. It felt very much like Tim Burton’s style with a modernized Yorgos twist to it. Same with the outfits and makeup. It wouldn’t surprise me if Holly Waddington and the rest of the costume and make-up crew received some awards for their work.
The themes of this movie do not try to hide themselves. Bella is reborn essentially and the movie follows her as she discovers her sexuality. Sexual liberation is at the forefront of this movie as we see Bella discover what she likes and how the men in her life treat her for it. We see Mark Ruffalo’s character take advantage of her promiscuity until it no longer benefits just him. On the other end of the spectrum, Ramy Youseff’s character Max (her real love interest) is understanding and accepting of her decisions, summed up by his line at the end “It is your body, Bella Baxter, it’s yours to be free.” The line is important because the brain in Bella’s head did not belong to her body, but she is still deserving of her own choices and respect.
Final Thoughts
I liked Poor Things. Emma Stone was incredible as Bella Baxter and was supported with knock-out performances all around. I love the style of the movie and how aesthetically pleasing the colors, sets, and camera work was. I’d warn you there’s a lot of sex in this movie so maybe think about that before seeing it with someone, but I really can’t recommend this enough.
