Lanthimos keeps getting both bolder and more relatable in his work. With Poor Things , similar to his last film, The Favourite, he has struck a remarkable balance between his obvious desire to create films like no one else does and reaching a sort of accessibility to mainstream audiences. Poor Things is very entertaining and even with its heavy handed but welcome and spirited moralizing, it manages to speak to issues of liberation and gender which are fascinating.
Lanthimos has made a stunningly gorgeous film. From his art design and costumes (which put Wes Anderson to shame) and his playful cinematography, to his narrative style which is surprisingly straight forward (which helps with the film's accessibility), Lanthimos joyfully tells the story of Bella, a woman made by and corralled by men. He imbues sadness into the story but only in small doses, generally letting Bella find happiness through a whole lot of sexuality, the inspiring of her mind to philosophy and science, and general self-determination. The feminism of Poor Things, a film written and directed by men based on source material also written by a man, may be somewhat simplistic, but it isn't wrong. In fact it is often delightful, played with such whimsey and optimism throughout the movie.
Much of how this works so well is because of Stone. She is clearly having an amazing time embodying this woman and she layers in a plethora of emotions (from the sublime to the melancholy and everything else) into Bella. Stone creates the character for herself and plays her in a way that is hard to imagine another actor taking on so perfectly. It is a truly wonderful performance that may well be one of her most treasured.
I feel the final act plays out a little awkwardly, feels a bit tacked on, and ends the movie on a more trivial ending than I would have like. Bella's full emancipation is sort of taken down in a moment of silliness. However that doesn't ruin what otherwise is a gloriously rambunctious and wildly entertaining story of independence and personhood. It would have been easy for Poor Things to be darkly pessimistic but Lanthimos and Stone reject that idea and instead make it a very exuberant experience. And sometimes that sort of joy just needs to be part of the story
Poor Things
Starring: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, Jerrod Carmichael, Katheryn Hunter, Hanna Schygulla, Margaret Qualley, Suzy Bemba
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Writer: Tony McNamara
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