Poor Things

 Yorghos Lanthimos is one of the most interesting directors working today. His latest movie, the widely acclaimed Poor Things, is a steampunk science fiction fantasy, spearheaded by a fearless performance by Emma Stone.

Nominated for eleven Oscars, Poor Things is a critical darling that by the end of its theatrical run will probably have a worldwide gross of over 100 million dollars, showing sceptics that its possible for artistic risk takers to have it all.

The movie, adapted by Tim McNamara, from the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray, starts out in an alternative version of Victorian London. Emma Stone plays Bella Baxter, a suicidal young woman, who is brought back to life by her own Dr. Frankenstein. He is called Godwin Baxter (the great Willem Dafoe), so Bella appropriately refers to him as God. 

As Bella grows up from a mental infant to a somewhat more mature young woman, she is befriended first by Godwin’s assistant Max (

Ramy Youssef), who wants to marry her, then by Godwin’s lawyer, the dashing womanizer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), who promises to show her the world and all its secrets. 

She soon outgrows him too, as Bella very much becomes her own person, but i won’t spoil what happens further and let you discover it for yourself in all its absurdist delight - check the abundant use of the fish-eye lens - cause it’s certainly worth the price of a movie ticket. 

Stone, who already won an Oscar for La La Land (2017), is amazing in a bravura performance that will resonate through the ages, and her co-stars are in equally great form.

The technical side of the movie is superlative as well, with Robbie Ryan’s roving camera clearly outstanding and both production design and costumes a constant delight.

I could go on, but the point is that Lanthimos is one of those rare directors who has the ability for all the individual departments to come together to realize his own particular, idiosyncratic vision.

Whether Poor Things is the best movie of the year, is a matter of taste, its so artistically outspoken that’s bound to have its distractors, but like The Favourite (2019) before it, its an extraordinary film that’s deserving of all the glory it has already received and will continue to do so. 

Five stars!