[Rating: Rock Fist Way Up]
In the year where Barbie became the rare blockbuster film that also seriously explores what it was like to be a woman, director Yorgos Lanthimos goes and turns that entire story on its head. In his own strange way, his latest visionary dream Poor Things is a human having an existential crisis on what it is to be human. It’s quirky, bizarre to the nth degree and yet so stylish, after sitting on it since my screening a month ago, I’m more enchanted by it than ever before.
In a retro-esque Victorian London, Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) hires his student Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) to help with his latest project. Dr. Baxter is known for taking parts of animals and fusing them with others. The scars on his face cause fear and alarm; he’s like a version of Dr. Frankenstein. Dr. Baxter has been housing a woman, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), whose mind is that of an infant, while her body is that of a woman. McCandles becomes her teacher, subsequently studying her in the process and soon, falling in love with this creature. As the story progresses, so does Bella’s own mind. She decides that she wants to travel with a sly lawyer named Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo). Duncan has no idea Bella’s mind is so young in thought, and as the two travel he becomes more annoyed with her as she questions everything around her. She meets various characters on their journey who make her question the thrills, joys, and pain of humanity.
Soon, Bella without a care in the world gives all the earnings her and Wedderburn have, stranding them in Paris. She then takes the next step in her quest of enlightenment and meets the shady brothel owner Madem Swiney (Kathryn Hunter), who teaches a (bit) more mature Bella a thing or two about her body. As Bella’s mind continues to grow, she sees the world around her and wonders what she was made for by Dr. Baxter (who she refers to as God) and if she should have left the safety of his home.
When I say this is a quirky film, oh boy is it! First of all, this is not the Victorian London you would see in books. It is a retro, near steampunk fantasy that Lanthimos has crafted so deliciously well. The production design of interior sets are vibrant, have natural flow and work beautifully against the cast, who use elaborate set pieces to their utmost advantage.
The men of this film are pure delight, with Ruffalo being a standout in the various pitfalls his character experiences. It is of course Stone who delivers what is one of her best performances. She delivers a performance that is so alive with small nuances and intellect that Bella Baxter is a remarkable character that I need to see even more of. Her final moments on screen are so ooey-gooey that I keep thinking about it more and more. She is a modern Don Quixote traveling the world, without sensing the dangers around every corner.
I’m glad that I took a good long month to sit on Poor Things. The more I got to embrace the film, the better I liked it. It is not for everybody, goodness no! I think a lot of people will come out of it with a “what the fuck did I just see?” mentality that nothing will make sense, and then everything will make sense. Stone and Lanthimos work well together and it is a damn delight to get yet another charming oddball little film.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
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