It completely flew over my head that I didn’t write a review for Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things.” I saw it a month after its Golden Lion win at Venice, and by that point there wasn’t much to add to it.
The film opened wide, in an extra 800 theaters, this weekend. I’d love to gauge some of our readers’ thoughts on this unusually eccentric film. Does it deserve its glowing reviews?
What I will say is that Emma Stone deserves all the awards she’s getting for her performance as Bella Baxter — a childlike creation from mad scientist Godwinn (Willem Dafoe). She was originally Victoria, but, pregnant and with an abusive husband, decided to throw herself off a bridge. Godwinn found her and, in a twisted experiment, decided to reanimate her by implanting her baby’s brain into her head.
Based on a 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray, the film opens in black and white and turns colourfully episodic when Mark Ruffalo’s scheming Duncan Wedderburn lures Bella into his web of seduction, taking her on a sexually-driven adventure to Lisbon, Alexandria and Paris.
That’s another note I should add about “Poor Things,” it’s not shy about depicting sex — albeit goofy, relentlessly comical sex. The main point the film makes is for Bella to have a journey of self-discovery, learning what it is to be human, and female, in a devious world.
Lanthimos struggles to find a firm grip on his story in the first half — which mostly consists of Stone wandering around, weirdly dancing and embarrassing Duncan in social events. It’s provocative just for the sake of being provocative, which is something I’ve noted about his past works. It’s deeply self-satisfied, almost to the point of ad nauseum.
The film’s quality does eventually improve, and hits a high point, past the hour mark, when Bella goes to Paris and decides to prostitute herself in a Parisian brothel led by Madame Swiney (Kathryn Hunter, always a scene-stealer).
I won’t go further than that in plot details, as more characters are revealed, but the film does get better and better until it climaxes in hilariously dead-on fashion. It’s not the messianic statement that some critics have claimed it to be. It’s a good film, one that is indelibly its own unique beast and I absolutely adored Robbie Ryan’s photography, filled with candy colors, it’s aesthetically eye-catching.
However, flaws and all, “Poor Things” is really Stone’s triumph. Lanthimos has created a playground for her to dive into. She’s fearlessly silly in her mannerisms and line delivery. Lanthimos, whose twin peaks still remain “Dogtooth” and “The Favourite,” just needs to step aside and let Stone do her thing.