Poor Things: Venice Film Review
After working together on 2018’s The Favourite, Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos reunite for the Victorian-era surrealist movie, Poor Things, which marks her return after two years off our screens.
Stone plays Bella Baxter, a young woman who is resurrected by the mad scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), who serves as her father figure and keeps her confined to his house because he believes she isn’t ready to face the world. Although she is engaged to marry surgeon Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef), Bella runs away with the exciting, adventurous lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) and embarks on a journey of growth and liberation.
The concept, taken from Alasdair Gray‘s novel of the same name, is really out there and the execution of the story is bizarre. It is distinctly a Yorgos Lanthimos movie (for better or worse, you decide) and you can’t deny his singular vision – Poor Things really is a one-of-a-kind experience. The production design is extraordinary, with practical sets and painted backdrops, and the costume design for Bella is marvellous and really informs the story.
Yes, there are sci-fi elements and bloody surgical experiments on display, but at the end of the day, this movie is about the evolution of Bella. It is basically an unorthodox coming-of-age story. At the start of the film, she is naive and childlike. But throughout their adventure, she learns and grows and finds her agency and independence. She becomes a mature woman with an opinion and uncontrollable desires and this sends Duncan crazy. He wants to keep her as a caged animal but she is a free spirit whose sexual appetite cannot be contained.
And because she is completely new to the real world, Bella has no idea about the expectations Victorian society places on women and is therefore not confined to them – she does what she wants when she wants. Plus, she feels no shame about her desires; she will openly discuss masturbation and sex with strangers! Bella’s unabashed and candid nature made me laugh a lot because she really does come out with some cracking lines.
This is Stone like you’ve never seen her before. The Favourite was simply a teaser for all the absurd things she and Lanthimos get up to here. Bella is childlike, wild and animalistic at first but she gradually becomes more mature and sure of herself. Like her character, Stone fearlessly throws herself into the part without shame or vanity and it is astounding work. There is a lot of nudity and we see her in many sex scenes.
Poor Things marks a new type of role for Ruffalo too. He is a posh British man who seems very adventurous and carefree when he’s just like the rest of them – he wants to control and tame Bella. Ruffalo was incredible and I was pleasantly surprised by his accent. Dafoe is literally the perfect choice for Dr. Baxter, who looks something like a Frankenstein’s Monster himself.
Only Lanthimos can make a film with this heightened, surrealistic and often comedic tone, this gorgeous look and these unique performances. Poor Things might not work for all (I found it a bit too long) but you can’t deny that this is Lanthimos at the height of his creative powers.
Seen at the Venice Film Festival. In cinemas Friday 12th January and on Disney+ from Thursday 7th March