2023 – Poor Things
This was a strange, strange movie. I ultimately enjoyed it, but I had to do a bit of research to really understand its themes and messages, and what it was trying to explore. It was a surrealistic fantasy, an examination of a certain kind of feminism, but told from a male perspective. The reviews I read are conflicted. Is the movie feminist, or is it really sexist? Is it about female empowerment, or is it about that within the confines of a man’s world? Any way you look at it, it is a unique movie. The acting was incredibly good, the visuals were stunning, the costumes were phenomenal, the cinematography was outstanding, and the pseudo-steampunk aesthetic was captivating. Even the music was strange and memorable, much of it sounding like a wonky, broken jack-in-the-box tune, with disturbing, sliding guitar sounds and chaotic orchestra hits. There are so many things about this film that were just fascinating to see and hear.
The plot was a bit of a Frankenstein story. Dr. Godwin Baxter, a scientist, played by Willem Dafoe, hires a young colleague, Max McCandles, played by Ramy Youssef, to observe and document the development of a young woman who, as it is later revealed, has the body of an adult woman, but the transplanted brain of an unborn infant, and not just any infant, but her own. Bella, brilliantly played by Emma Stone, has virtually no knowledge of the world outside of Godwin’s house. She discovers sexual desire with the unscrupulous Duncan Wedderburn, played by Mark Ruffalo, who convinces her to run away with him for a sex-filled adventure around the world. The film follows Bella as she goes on a journey of self-discovery and experience. She rapidly grows from an infant to a questioning child, and by the film’s end, she becomes a confident and self-determined adult.
This is what made Emma Stone’s performance so incredible. She starts out experiencing the world like a newborn peeing on the floor, a toddler banging on a piano, a child smashing plates for fun, a teenager discovering sexuality, a young woman running off to explore the world, and finally, an adult, deciding the direction of her life. She meets people who introduce her to sex, art, philosophy, human suffering, pain, and pleasure. But she takes it all in with the curiosity of one who is hungry for knowledge and self-improvement. Stone was simply brilliant in every aspect of that journey. She played each stage of that growth with such precision that you could follow the progression with ease, and it was fascinating to watch.
All the men in the film interact with Bella in terms of control, because apparently, that is what all men do with all women. They all want her to be what they see as the perfect companion. Dr. Baxter wants the control of a parent, Max, that of a sweetheart, Duncan, as a lover, the johns of the brothel as a whore (I’ll get to them in a moment), and the husband from her previous life before the brain transplant, Alfie Blessington, played by Christopher Abbott, as an actual possession.
The visuals of the film were amazing. The fantasy steampunk look of every scene was impressive. The images on the screen were beautiful. The use of color and light were captivating on the screen. Much of the film was done in black and white, finally blooming to color as Bella’s understanding of the world blossomed. And that leads us into the amazing costumes. Bella was a girl who had no concept of social conventions, and was unashamed of her avaricious desires for experience and sex. These things were reflected in the clothes she wore. The colors matured from innocent whites and baby blues to more mature reds and blacks. And boy, did they ever lean into the gigantic puffy shoulders of the Victorian era! But I actually liked that. It really lent itself to the fantasy of the film.
And did I mention she loved sex? Actually, this was one of the film’s… I won’t call it a flaw… but one of its more unsettling elements. The explicit sex scenes were a little too frequent. One of the major plot points in the narrative is where Bella is in need of money, and discovers that she can earn cash by doing something she loves doing: having sex. She has a lot of it, and we see a lot of it. We see full frontal nudity of not only Emma Stone, but also of a few them men who come to the brothel in which she becomes employed. True, this movie doesn’t acknowledge the reality and emotional ramifications inherent in the life of a sex-worker, and some critics have remarked on this lack of sensitivity, but the movie is a fantasy, an allegory, a metaphor. What do you want?
And finally, there were two last things I really liked about the film. First, it was an epic. It followed Bella around the world, growing and becoming, and taking us on that journey with her. It transcended time and location, and I do so love a good epic narrative. Second is that it is a great example of a black comedy. It dealt with mature, adult themes, and the things that happened were not realistically funny. But there was enough actual comedy that made me laugh internally, if not out loud, like the scene where Bella dares a drunk Duncan to throw a lady off the side of a ship, and he actually tries to do it. And Martha, the lady in question, is actually amused that her life has come to end in such a murder. Or the bizarre ending where Bella transplants the brain of a goat into Alfie’s head, and we see him bleating and eating leaves. That was some funny stuff.