Poor Things review – How to get a head in lucidness

It can be said with confidence that Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos doesn’t make typical movies, so you should always pay attention when a new one of his comes out. This time, Lanthimos has teamed up with his The Favourite collaborator Emma Stone to create Poor Things, a film that sets a high standard for the year ahead, and leaves viewers with a smile on their face.

Based on the novel by Alasdair Gray, with a screenplay by Tony McNamara, Poor Things tells the story of Bella Baxter (played by Stone), a young woman seemingly brought to life in the late 19^th Century by eccentric scientist and fatherly figure Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Monitored by Godwin and his assistant Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef), Bella starts out with infant-like intelligence but quickly develops mentally. During the process, she is swept off her feet by sleazy lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) with promises of seeing the world beyond Godwin’s oversight. Absconding from her home with Wedderburn despite McCandles’s protests, Bella is propelled to faraway lands on an adventure of discovery, both of herself and the world’s many machinations, be they beautiful or cruel.

Although unconventional, Poor Things is a ‘feel-good’ movie – one the most feel-good movies to come out in recent memory. Not only that, it is Lanthimos’s most accessible creation to date. Whereas his previous work, such as The Favourite and The Lobster, contained a lot of subtext, Poor Things is much more linear and straightforward. It’s not concerned with challenging its audience, or insisting that they think, which is admittedly a risk.

Do not fear, however. What Poor Things lacks in message, it makes up for in emotional raunchiness. Bella is a compelling character who subverts traditional fish-out-of-water narratives with a positive and unique attitude. McManara’s screenplay adds to that by going above and beyond what could have been a simple Frankenstein adaptation. Bella’s interactions with the people around her, especially the men, and how they treat her, propels a satisfying story of self-fulfilment.

On that note, there’s a lot of people, er, filling other people in this movie. Numerous scenes of a sexual nature are spliced together with flashes of a sliced brain or diced corpse. It’s an idiosyncratic approach that complements a visually spectacular production. The monotone greys associated with the Victorian era are replaced by oversaturated colours – typically to signify the expansion of Bella’s world view. There’s also a dash of steampunk aesthetic thrown in and the atmosphere is playful yet eyebrow-raising, reinforced by Jerskin Fendrix’s musical score, which is best described as chiptunes if they were made using vintage, cog-driven instruments.

Lanthimos also makes use of his trademark variety of angles and lenses, particularly a fisheye lens, to imply the audience is peeking into a forbidden space. Such camera work may not be to everyone’s taste, but it doesn’t matter when the subject matter seen through the lens is interesting and absurd.

That absurdity, ironically, grounds the performances of the entire cast. Emma Stone is a shoe-in for all the awards as she portrays a woman with the mind of a child – but a mind that’s is also interpreting the world around her without any concept of the etiquette that governs it. She is free of all social obligations and she relishes it. Even towards the end, when the 142-minute film starts to feel a tad too long, we’re still cheering Bella on. Poor Things is Stone’s movie from beginning to end.

Not far behind the Oscar-winning actress is Mark Ruffalo, who appears to be enjoying his time away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and his role as Bruce Banner. Ruffalo ditches his easy-going attitude in favour of a misplaced accent, sporadic fits of melancholy and a mutating desire for Bella that makes him downright hilarious. Willem Dafoe brings up the rear of the ensemble. With Bella referring to Godwin as “God”, we have further evidence that Dafoe’s acting skills may very well be divine power. Jerrod Carmichael also deserves a shout-out for his character Harry, and Harry’s utter contempt for the entire human race.

Poor Things could’ve been a lot of things but it turns out to be something far removed from, and beyond, expectation. As one character remarks that Bella is “plotting her course to freedom”, so too is Lanthimos plotting a course through several genres. In the process, he’s made a damn good movie.

Poor Things is in South African cinemas from 19 January.