Poor You For NOT Watching!
*(Some very mild spoilers ahead)*
I watched Poor Things the night Emma Stone won a Golden Globe for her performance, and it was rightfully deserved. A surreal film from start to finish, director Yorgos Lanthimos spared no minute to shock, humour and spike curiosity in viewers–a difficult task for a runtime of almost two and a half hours.
I will start by saying that this movie is not for everyone for these main reasons: there’s some gore here and there (not very serious), and the fantasy may be too fantastical. A lot of it just doesn’t make sense, and most of it is up for personal interpretation.
Visually, it felt like Dalí was in charge and creating surrealist versions of already existing cities, all warped with the grandeur and realities of the Victorian era (from the perspective of an English person living during that era). The landscapes looked purposefully cartoonish, but the way the characters interacted with the space made it seem normal. Maybe it was an alternate universe. What I enjoyed was the first bit shown in black and white, which makes the environment like a slightly zany and warped version of Victorian England, and once Bella (Emma Stone) is off on her adventure the world is less stuffy and more exuberant. The tonality matches Bella’s emotions, especially comparing the point of feeling trapped to when she’s given freedom.
I also absolutely loved the costumes, especially Bella’s. Many characters, specifically those who connected positively with Bella during her journey, were dressed very fabulously. Even so, Bella’s wardrobe was likely the most detailed and fancy. She popped out against other dull travellers, her lust for life apparent in her colourful and flamboyant clothing choices. Shorts? Big ruffles? You name it, Bella probably wore it. And might I add that Stone rocks darker hair, it was a nice change from the usual red!
The story itself is controversial. By the end, Bella is a sexually liberated woman, though she technically still lives with the brain of a child. However, the audience has little tangible information on how much her brain had developed when she ran off with Duncan (Mark Ruffalo). Their world is erratic and whimsical, so I wouldn’t be surprised if time was a nonsensical concept.
On Letterboxd, plenty of users compared Poor Things to Barbie. I can see why—simply put, it’s about a young woman on an adventure, trying to learn what it means to enjoy life, to find her place in the world and overcome societal barriers. In this film, one of the biggest barriers is “polite society”, a topic brought up over and over again. It’s up to Bella to decide whether she wants to follow its rules or create her own version of it. I was also reminded of Penelope, a 2000s rom-com about a girl trapped in her house for having a pig nose and not experiencing the outside world until she meets a mysterious man. And now I’m also reminded of Rapunzel. It all ties together because Poor Things can be considered a rom-com. And again, the humour is not for everyone because there’s a lot of satirical jokes and subtle humour that may go over people’s heads.
Her adventurous nature gets in the way, but it ends up helping her navigate relationships and her personal goals. Barbie exemplifies a less mature version of this idea (no wonder, because Barbie is a children’s character). She also has to deal with obstacles placed upon women, her’s being the patriarchy (and a simpler construction at that).
The casting was amazing in general. I was happy to see some seasoned actors like Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, and some newer faces like Ramy Youssef and Jerrod Carmichael (new as in I’ve not seen them before or their filmography is limited). Like many others have noted, Ruffalo’s performance was memorable, rather annoyingly charming in an insufferable way. Each time he whined I wondered why he wouldn’t just leave, but then if he did I wouldn’t get to laugh at his whiny and uncalled-for perseverance.
The one thing that threw me off with the main cast was the accents. Stone’s was fine, but I couldn’t tell if the rest were being serious or if they were in on a joke. I tried to justify not being able to confirm their origins with the fact that nothing else in this movie made sense (like brain switching!? The most obvious “WHAT!?”), but it was almost impossible. Though it didn’t really matter where anyone was from, it was just jarring listening to Ruffalo talk (and whine) with a strange foreign twang (almost like an American impersonating a Brit? Or maybe it was a bad transatlantic accent? Who knows!) Dafoe was maybe Scottish who turned Irish sometimes? Same ordeal with Youssef’s character, Max. The random French tossed in while Bella was in France was also a bit much, but I guess necessary for the situation she was in.
Other aspects to note were the soundtrack and cinematography. The music was perfectly off-putting and still playful. The use of different lenses was so fun, and I enjoyed all times the camera would suddenly zoom in. This movie was able to capture my attention very easily and the amount of effort was easy to notice.
Not every film is meant to be seen on the big screen, but this is something that should be watched in theatres to fully enjoy and be immersed in Bella’s world. It’s atypical in the best way and it should for sure be considered one of the most highly-regarded films of 2023.
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