‘Poor Things’ Review: Emma Stone is Unhinged in This Raunchy Knockout from Yorgos Lanthimos | Venice

Yorgos Lanthimos is back with a whole new wonderful and wacky creation. Poor Things is a twisted and spellbinding coming-of-age tale that sees Emma Stone unhinged in a fantastical world adjacent to what we know as reality. Taking from Frankenstein and The Island of Dr. Moreau, Lanthimos creates a leading character so primal and innately explorative, that it’s like looking at the world through an infant’s eyes, although far more grown up and odd.

Through a series of experiments on a woman’s dead body, Dr. Godwin “God” Baxter (Willem Dafoe) manages to reanimate the once-dead corpse he discovered. Said person is Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) who is given the brain of an infant with the body of an adult. Initially designed to be an intimate partner for the scientist, Bella’s imagination goes wild as she discovers her adult features and becomes more exposed to the outside world. She is quick to pursue men for sexual pleasure, the desire a catalyst for Bella’s story as it forces her to become more acquainted with the world out there.

Poor Things takes a minute to adjust to, the tone that Lanthimos strikes seems so otherworldly and strange. The way the characters move and speak is completely abnormal. But it’s easy to get hooked on what Lanthimos is building given the sheer entertainment of the film’s well-crafted narrative. Despite a somewhat lengthy runtime, the film always finds new and engaging ways to capture the audience. There are new chapters that frequently occur, introducing a new set of challenges and perspectives for Emma Stone’s childlike protagonist to explore. There is always a hook to keep the spectator engaged. The boat that Bella takes from Lisbon docks in Athens where she is shown a glimpse into class injustices with some horrifying images of the Athenian slums. This represents a major shift in Stone’s character as she realises there is more to life than just one’s pleasure, and that being human is also about having compassion for others.

Lanthimos has an intrinsic fascination with the eccentric, here he breathes life into a wild coming-of-age story about a reanimated woman and the way she shapes her life. The outlandish and seemingly monstrous facets of science and the supernatural meet in this unexpected adventure that sees Bella find meaning in her life as she figures out what it means to be human. It’s quite a winding quest that takes place in many wondrous locations, shot like a steampunk painting come to life. Cinematographer Robbie Ryan reteams with Lanthimos to create this sumptuously odd world lensed with disorientating ultra-wides and fisheye lenses. The Budapest-shot film has awe-inducing painterly skies and a serious eye for colour which pairs perfectly with production designer Shona Heath’s beautiful, Tim Burton-inspired world creation. But it’s Holly Waddington’s extravagant costumes that tell a story of its own as Bella’s development is shown through her costumes which quite drastically change from beginning to end.

Poor Things may just be one of the raunchiest, horny films in a long time. Bella is extremely primitive when it comes to exploring her feelings and Lanthimos openly accepts it as sex, or “ferocious jumping,” is intrinsic to Bella’s development. By allowing her to be completely wild and free, Stone’s character is launched on an adventure she wouldn’t have even imagined if she hadn’t found out about the pleasures of sexual intercourse. Stone gives a loopy performance as the initially unhinged Bella, but as she explores more and more Stone reins in just how off-kilter she is. Covered in makeup, Willem Dafoe makes a significant appearance as Dr. Godwin Baxter, a scientist who has a passion for risky experiments. Dafoe works wonders with Tony McNamara’s casual, yet outlandish writing that often enacted rapturous laughs from the audience. Joining them is a dandy and excessive Mark Ruffalo whose Duncan Wedderburn wipes Bella off her feet and takes her on a hedonistic journey through Europe and the many places they explore.

With a well-oiled narrative, grand performances and great filmmaking, the obscene subject matter quickly becomes acceptable and never fails to entice. Yorgos Lanthimos has created something special with this Emma Stone-starring film, it allows the audience to tap into an alternate kind of entertainment that would normally be seen as prude. The excessive nature of the film will undoubtedly cause some division with those who watch, but ultimately it’s what we’ve come to expect from Lanthimos, albeit taking a further step in the direction of the obscene.

Grade: A

This review is from the 2023 Venice Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures will release Poor Things in the U.S. on December 8.

Photo by Atsushi Nishijim