Poor Things

Poor things is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer) and is supported with a strong cast, namely Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe.

The first impression you get from this movie is bizarre to say the least. In fact, it takes some time to get used to the ambiance which is nothing short of macabre. And surely, this impression lasts throughout the whole movie; but this feeling of weirdness and incomprehension serves the plot and in this sense, is most welcome. Eventually, there comes a time where, inevitably, and without even realizing it, you are suctioned right in, never to escape again. And you are glad to be trapped in what is essentially pit of limitless pleasure.

Indeed, one of the things the movie does very well is make you, along with the protagonist, embark on an adventure. Sure, you might have been to the places the protagonist went to, but those are presented in a most wonderful way. The aesthetics are magnificient and otherworldly. I do not know how they did it, but I remember being in awe and it is a feeling that I will cherish for a lifetime. It is truly a sight to behold.

It is the kind of movie which makes you feel grateful to be alive.

During the first half hour of the movie, I was ready to give up on it and find something else to watch. But gradually I got into it -- or it got into me.

Poor Things is an alternate universe, and the ordinary rules of the world we live in don't apply. For instance, you can't just take a brain out of a baby's skull and insert it into an adult's, but you can in this movie.

The characters in this movie couldn't exist in the real world, but that's not the point. The world of the characters is like that in Alice in Wonderland, and like Lewis Caroll's tale, the movie ridicules human pretensions.

In the end, I enjoyed the movie very much, and I think watching it is worthwhile use of time.

Well it was just weird. But I really loved Mark Ruffalo in the movie. He was so funny. And he really made the role very believable. The other actors and actresses were great but their roles didn't have the same kind of acting needed. Ruffalo was able to put more emotion into his role. Emma Stone did her role very well as the lovely Bella. Who was learning more and becoming a more rounded role for her. So her "frankinsteinish" role was well played. Dafoe as the mad scientist who let his creation loose into the world was well played as well! Personally I would have just watched it for Mark Ruffalo though.

"Poor things" isn't for everybody. And when I say that I don t mean that if you don t like it, it went over your head and you should go back to watching Transfomers. No. It's a very very very specific type of weird, that won't be for everyone. Like Twin Peaks, or Everything everywhere all at once ( which I hated). It's like a fever dream on the strangest coqtail of psychedelics. If it happes to be your kind of weird, you will love it.

It worked for me and I liked it a lot. I plan to watch it again, so I can digest the dialogue and simbolism. On the first watch, it was a little overwhealming to adapt to the weirdness of it all. I liked Bella and her transition from selfish child to complex adult, the learning process of someone with no preconceived ideas or limitations.

It was dreamlike, extremely beautifully shot, thought provoking, and weirdly endearing.

Winner of the Golden Lion at the 2023 Venice Film Festival and with around eleven nominations for the 2024 Oscars, Poor Creatures is a surrealist romance, with an M/16 rating, based on the literary work by Alasdair Gray that presents the life of Bella Baxter and her journey for knowledge and a fair, equal and free life in a secretive world oppressed by the moral norms of a society that hides in a veil of uncertainty.

Beginning in black and white, the viewer is introduced to the routine of scientist and anatomy professor Godwin Baxter (played by Willem Dafoe), a brilliant and peculiar scientist who "plays" with nature and, through logic and science, assembles and disassembles creatures, filling his house with four-legged ducks and pig-headed chickens. Tormented by his father (who was also a scientist and the founder of the university where he teaches), Godwin (nicknamed "God" by those closest to him, making a joke in English with the figure of "God") represents the dehumanisation of the Human Being through Science, where all the answers to the Human Body must be answered with crude, graphic and inhuman experiments (which fits in with the film's narrative, as it possibly takes place at the end of the 19th century). Godwin Baxter lives with his maid, Mrs Prim (played by Vicki Pepperdine) - who is the typical stereotype of a grumpy Victorian maid who obeys blindly - and with the slender Bella Baxter (played by Emma Stone), a young adult who is initially treated as having cognitive disabilities and behaves like a child. For Bella, Godwin is the centre of the world (hence the pun on Bella's term "God"), but he is the same one who prevents her from seeing the world and oppresses her thirsty desire for exploration, behaving like the over-protective "oppressive father" often depicted in classic literature. After the viewer learns more about Bella's supposed past, we are introduced to Max McCandles (played by Ramy Youssef), Godwin's only student who doesn't judge him by his appearance and who gains his trust. Godwin invites Max to be his assistant and, later, to help him catalogue the evolution of Bella's behaviour. As time goes by, Bella develops a more refined intellect and a mutual affection for Max that leads to a marriage proposal and the creation of a document that further oppresses Bella's freedom, leading her to run away with a bohemian gallant called Duncan Wedderburn (played by Mark Ruffalo).

Separated into six parts, the narrative focuses on Bella's psychological growth and the way she begins to interpret the society around her, without moral filters and "pure" in a toxic society. Bella's life becomes a projection of the constant struggle for freedom and women's rights in a patriarchal world. From the discovery of carnal pleasure to the impact of the cruelty of social differences, Bella ends up travelling the world accompanied by Duncan, who initially just wants to live a life of luxury with Bella, abusing her innocence and lack of morals. From London they move on to Lisbon, where Pastel de Nata and Fado conquer Bella's heart (now in a world of colour), a cruise on the Mediterranean where philosophical questions about the meaning of life are challenged and finally Paris, where the political ideals of Socialism reach Bella's mind (and free herself from Duncan).

There are some surprising revelations in the course of the film that can't be revealed, as well as moments that take the viewer's breath away. The "horny" scenes (excessive in my opinion) represent Bella's indomitable and free spirit and the strong and important feminist message the film carries is remarkable. With sets straight out of fantasy books (Lisbon being the most superb) and curious costumes, Poor Creatures could be considered a lot of things, but it's definitely a sensational film. The choice of camera shots and the evolution from black and white to colour bring the film to life and we must highlight the performance of the incredible Carminho, an amazing Portuguese fado singer, who gives her voice to a remarkable moment. I therefore conclude this review with a rating of 9.5/10.