Poor Things

Community Rating

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Writers: Tony McNamara

Stars: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef

Runtime: 2h 21m

MPAA: R

Released: December 8, 2023

A unique film with intriguing visuals, Poor Things shows a journey of self-discovery through the character of Bella Baxter. Yorgos Lanthimos directs this genre bending movie based on the 1992 novel of the same title by Alasdair Gray. It is set in an alternative fantasy version of the Victorian period. These elements of fantasy join romance, comedy, and science fiction to form an amalgamation of a film.

Bella Baxter is the result of a twisted science experiment by Dr. Godwin Baxter. The doctor, played by Willem Dafoe, is a mad scientist with a humane side left intact. Eventually his experiment runs free as she wishes to experience the world. Along the way Bella meets student Max McCandles and the seductive Duncan Wedderburn. The first is played by Ramy Youssef, the second by Mark Ruffalo. Each are great in their role and manage to provide some good laughs along the way. It is particularly satisfying to see Ruffalo play a different character from his usual.

The brightest star here is Emma Stone as Bella Baxter. Her character grows in a way that has never quite been shown before. She does a fantastic job bringing the smallest of intricacies into her performance to show this transformation. Bella’s speech patterns and basic mobility improve as does her intellectual abilities. Poor Things relies heavily on Emma Stone translating this to the audience. She dives headfirst into this role and does not miss a beat through the entire run time.

Unfortunately this run time feels long in some parts. Each side character has their charm, but are ultimately flat notes. This makes a few sections feel rather tedious. To make matters worse some of these characters have no arch or ending to speak of. They vanish from the script without a trace, making one wonder why they were introduced at all.

The reason they exist is to introduce new concepts to the main character. This feeds the transformation in Bella and is interesting to see for a while. The problem is this leaves these supplemental characters to become uninteresting despite how well they are acted.

Beautiful visuals make Poor Things a treat to look at. An odd style with cinematography from Robbie Ryan compliments the movie well. Extreme wide angles and fish-eye lenses are used to satisfying effect. Once the film introduces color it is vibrant and stunning. The final product is a feast for the eyes.

However, not all of its strange qualities pay off. It feels as though there are some bits of weirdness for weirdness sake in Poor Things. There are bizarre scenes that go nowhere, jokes that miss entirely, and a few musical cues that leave a lot to be desired. But yet there are also some big laughs and tracks that work delightfully. This leads the movie to feel all over the place in terms of quality.

The biggest problem with Poor Things is that it has very little emotional weight. Intellectual curiosity abounds from the film, yet only a small piece of it is fully explored. Carnal desires are shown for laughs and thrills, but little time is left for the deeper concerns of Bella obtained through life experience. For a film that so openly shows her basic wants, it is disappointing how it seems to only meet her emotional demands halfway.

There is a message within Poor Things. It shows the importance of discovery, learning, and actualization. Bella Baxter grows into a woman with real desires and ideas. She is brilliant in the face of cynicism and hopeful for a better tomorrow. She learns to take control of her own destiny. These concepts are great, if only they were delivered with more heart from the script.

Poor Things is a flawed film with a wonderful concept, lead character, and style. It’s a movie that sometimes misses the mark and subsequently feels long. There’s even a lack of emotional attachment throughout the entire movie. However, it is worth a watch to see Emma Stone give a fantastic performance as well as for the cinematography and sheer distinctiveness.

★★★☆☆