Emma Stone gives the performance of the year in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, adapted by Tony McNamara from the complex and opaque novel by Alasdair Gray.
In another actor’s hands, Bella Baxter might be more robotic, less human, less captivating. But Stone’s Bella is impossible not to love. She’s learning how to be alive minute by minute, taking in the world one sensation at a time. For us, we get to experience it all through her eyes. What does it taste like to bite into a sweet treat? What does sexual pleasure feel like for the first time?
Stone has given herself a blank slate, and the result is wondrous. Lanthimos has found his perfect muse in Stone, so brave is she to dive right into this bizarre and surreal exploration of a woman’s fast-developing soul – via her mind, her body and her consciousness.
Through Bella’s own words, readers witness her struggle, resilience, and transformation. Her perspective sheds light on the themes of identity, manipulation, and the societal norms of the Victorian era. Bella’s version of events is crucial in understanding the novel’s plot twists, character motivations, and the moral ambiguities within the story.
Willem Dafoe, like the other male characters in the film, sees Bella more as an experiment but even he can’t help but feel protective of her and fall in love, as we do, thanks to Stone’s vibrant, unforgettable work.
The film is filled with a talented ensemble, with every actor up to the task, as is always required in a Lanthimos production. Mark Ruffalo nearly steals the show as Bella’s main suitor. We’re so used to seeing Ruffalo as a very serious actor in serious roles – it was refreshing to see his inner comedian in full bloom.
One of the best scenes is when Bella, hearing music that makes her body move almost uncontrollably, explodes in a dance number as Ruffalo’s character desperately tries to keep up. The scene is a perfect metaphor for the entire film – she moves by her own rhythm, he flails around helplessly, trapped by society’s expectations on him.
Bella is not just a Gothic stereotype or a one-dimensional figure; she’s depicted as a woman with deep flaws but even deeper desire to experience whatever the world has to offer. Stone’s Bella virtually churns the sea with the force of combative female agency. Her complexity allows the audience to see beyond the prim societal judgments of her early petulant behavior and her later choice of profession, so we fully empathize with her struggles and desires.
Despite every effort by men to tame and train her, Bella navigates her unique vision of a kaleidoscope world that Lanthimos has envisioned and tackles its challenges on her own terms.
Her rash decisions that might have wrecked the lives of less assertive woman, her bizarre choices that have an uncanny way of working to her advantage.
Bella presents a challenge to traditional roles assigned to women in the Victorian era, portraying a character in complete control of her own destiny. Bella’s matter-of-fact embrace of life in a Parisian Bordello and her unwillingness to conform to societal expectations of female behavior are naturally considered vulgar and disgraceful by the same men who seek to exploit her body on their terms. Her refusal to conform to male expectations represents a form of bold resistance against the limitations imposed on women by the monstrous demands of men.
Visually, Poor Things brilliantly melds dreamlike surrealism with a captivating steampunk aesthetic, intertwining fantastical elements of art nouveau within its elaborately detailed Victorian-era setting. Lanthimos and his creative team have crafted a dreamscape where reality and fantasy converge, blurring boundaries in a mesmerizing explosion of unfettered imagination.
The film’s vivid portrayal of reanimated beings, scientific inventions, and anachronistic technologies embodies the essence of steampunk, infusing the narrative with a sense of whimsy and innovation, laced with a disturbing and ominous foreboding.
As the lovechild of Victorian elegance and industrial grit, it’s as if Mary Shelly, H.G. Wells and Jules Verne were united at a lavish dinner party for time travelers. All the more appropriate, since the themes of Poor Things slip neatly between the publication dates of Frankenstein and The Island of Dr. Moreau.
In many ways, both visually and dramatically, “Poor Things” combines elements of satire, metafiction, and historical fiction, presenting a multifaceted story that resembles the diverse collection found in a cabinet of curiosities.
Ultimately, Poor Things reflects on societal issues such as class divides, hypocrisy, and political corruption, offering a critical commentary on the moral fabric of society. Through Emma Stone’s transcendent performance, Bella pursues her singular path to find her place in the world, showcasing the tale’s exploration of morality, guilt, and the quest for personal redemption amidst life’s overwhelming complexity.