As a fellow Greek, it brings me immense pleasure to say that Yorgos Lanthimos’ first feature film in half a decade is finally here. And quite frankly, there’s no point in sugar coating anything about Poor Things. It’s likely one of the most fascinatingly beautiful films you’ll see all year, and has the idiosyncratic touch Lanthimos has become beloved for. You’ll constantly find yourself marveling at this quasi-reality Lanthimos has pulled his audience into, and walk out admiring the sincere core hidden by the many odd developments that take place. Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) is described as “an experiment” by her creator, “God” (Willem Dafoe). While that nickname is short for Godwin, it may as well function literally. With the look of a mad scientist and a laboratory to fit the moniker, it’s made abundantly clear that Godwin has manipulated the natural order of things, and has been doing so for quite some time. If Lanthimos’ beautiful use of fisheye lens wasn’t disorienting enough, perhaps seeing Godwin’s unnatural petting zoo animals roaming around the house will do the trick. While we slowly learn more about his and Bella’s relationship, his apparent urge to manipulate nature’s will is abundantly clear from the outset. But as is the case with any Lanthimos story, the most weird elements are often explicitly reasoned, and in the case of this film, emotionally prudent.
To avoid spoiling the intricate details of the film, all that shall be said is that Stone’s body was found by Godwin. For lack of a better phrase, one could say she was re-animated in a deeply unorthodox manner. When pressed as to why anybody would conceive such an idea, Godwin asks the question, “Would you rather the world not have Bella?” Within the first twenty minutes, Lanthimos has displayed a barrage of events, creatures, and people that, more than anything, should keep the audience at an arm’s length. But it’s in this question, and in his seemingly natural ability to dissect humanity with empathy, that Poor Things finds its emotional core and begins the true ride of a lifetime. The idea of starting anew is one anybody can relate to, and when played so perfectly by Stone, Poor Things depicts a life any audience member will be able to latch onto. But it cannot be overstated, this film couldn’t work without the powerhouse performance of Stone as Bella Baxter.
What appears to be her most demanding role yet, Stone takes on the challenge and defies any and all expectations one might have for a film such as this. Her role is one that, by design, extends a level beyond multi-faceted. Over the course of 140 minutes, we watch as Bella becomes her own person. What starts as a performance wherein Bella smashes plates, spits out her food, and stumbles through the halls of her home, morphs into a fascinating individual. And Stone makes these changes appear both gradually and subtly. We’re never shocked at her later developments, but only because we become so attached to Bella that her changes seem obvious. It’s a marvelous performance, made only more exciting by the brilliant amount of character work present around her. Poor Things is a film about how we can morph the world around us; But it’s also a film about how the world around us can change us, or at the very least, test us. So it’s only fitting that the world Lanthimos steeps us in is one of oddities, and of course he succeeds.
In one sequence where Bella and Godwin discuss “polite society”, Lanthimos frames the back of her oversized chair in a way that resembles a cage. Confined by societal constructs, Bella decides she wants to venture out and explore the world. This urge is only made worse by her meeting the slimy Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo). He whisks her away to Lisbon, and it’s here that Bella’s life really begins. While Duncan’s motivations for taking Bella away are far more self-serving and singularly minded, it’s an entirely new way of living for Bella. As she
discovers new foods, fascinating sights, and more of the pleasures she’s coming to discover from existence, Stone’s eyes light up with all the possibilities ahead of her. Bella is, at first, odd by design. But in many ways, she’s the only character in the film who we can confidently say lives purely. One can’t even say it’s too naive considering her life up until that point. And since our experiences, and in many ways, our own selves, are defined by the people we meet, Lanthimos’ film has as much to say about society at large as it does about Bella building a life and personality for herself.
As Bella and Duncan go from city to city, they meet a wide variety of individuals who fundamentally alter Bella’s perception of the world. They’re far better teachers than Duncan, who shows himself to really be nothing more than a sniveling, greedy, pathetic man child. That being said, Ruffalo gives it his all. It would be a far more deeply insufferable character were it in the hands of a lesser performer. As such, having him be essentially tortured by Bella’s unique manner of thinking is pretty much funnier than any full-fledged studio comedy to release this year. So Bella meets a slew of characters, all with their own quirks and views on the world. Together, they serve as the building blocks of Bella and her ideas on life. But as is the case with reality, Bella falls into a rut. “I feel almost nothing,” she declares at one point in the film. In this penultimate stretch of the runtime, Poor Things questions the viewer regarding what is left after our experiences change us. What do we do with the time we are given? More importantly, what do we do with the time we have left? And on a micro-level, can we as people change? Better yet, can we improve? The amount of existential questions this film is able to juggle is truly impressive, and a testament to the cast bringing the enriching script, and film, to life.
Poor Things is currently playing in theaters.