Poor Things is the newest film from director Yorgos Lanthimos and producer Emma Stone. In it, Stone plays Bella Baxter, a woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist, Dr. Godwin (Willem Dafoe). What makes him unorthodox is that he has given Bella a baby’s brain. Under Godwin’s protection, Bella’s eagerness to learn about the world slowly removes her from Godwin’s care and she longs to leave. When a lawyer named Duncan Wedderbum (Mark Ruffalo) meets Bella, he is enthralled and whisks the two off on an adventure together across the continents in an escapade of drink, treats, and debaucherous delights. Without the inhibitions of prejudice or adherence to the standards of the Victorian period, Bella recklessly explores. Her perception of the world grows rapidly without the standards that women are taught as a child. She begins to see humanity for both its hidden pleasures and unspeakable horrors.
The surprising stand out from a group of wonderful performances is Mark Ruffalo as Duncan. He embodies the absolute ego and desperation that comes from a horny and rich Victorian man. Duncan displays a deeply sad longing to be with Bella and his actions to stay and control her are often quite hilarious. He remains committed to the arch of his character, bringing out great comedy from the pathetic nature of his confidence and the devastation of being rejected by a woman that he claims to love. Emma Stone gives an equally committed performance as this weirdly robotic woman whose unique manner stands out from the proper society in which she is surrounded. She embodies the baby whose brain is supposed to be inside of her and does a wonderful job representing herself as a whining infant. Her creation of the character is remarkably vivid, and she commands your attention in every scene as she slowly changes and grows. The rest of the ensemble cast is great as well, especially Ramy Youssef as Max McCandles who gives an understated but heartfelt performance that is greatly needed in this wacky, lustful, and absurd world.
The film is a committed auteur vision from Lanthimos. He and his team create a twisted and surreal version of Victorian Europe with anti-realist sets that fit the abstract nature of Bella’s journey. The world of the film is well done and, while not exactly appealing, is easy to get lost in and enjoy. The cinematography often matches this with changes from black and white to color as well as many extreme wide-angle shots. Most of the comedy which I find to be the strongest part of the film comes from the combination of staging, acting, and dialogue. Writer Tony McNamara continues to show his great ability to put comedy seamlessly into clearly telegraphed character journeys. He never sacrifices the momentum of the plot for comedy and uses Bella’s long journey to explore the many different facets of the world and what it is like for her to come-of-age despite, having the body of an adult woman.
The film is an in-depth look at the need to explore and gain personal autonomy. Bella’s unique position as a naïve grown woman puts her in a place to make mistakes and discover who she is with little care as to what the world thinks. She stands out from the other characters and often their reactions to her lack of care for how society should work is what produces the most hilarious moments, as well as moments of dramatic catharsis.
This idea is explored a lot through sex and its dynamics. We witness a multititle of men love Bella in their unique way. Bella’s relationships with them reveal the fallacies and cost of sex and love. Duncan wants Bella all to himself, he wants her to choose to love him–and only him–both physically (a lot) and emotionally. Another wants to own Bella, to mark her as his territory, and to control her body regardless of whether she wants to be controlled or not. McCandles reveals himself as a man who will respect her regardless of her choices and loves her for all of her uniqueness and faults. Lastly, Godwin plays a parental role, he wants to see her grow and allows himself to become attached to Bella and allows her to explore who she is.
There is a good amount of time comparing the ideas of modernism and post-modernism. Bella is raised by Dr.Godwin to learn that life can be aided and prolonged through the progress of science. She regards most of her first life experiences as necessary experiences to see if she likes the world and, at first, she does. She drinks and tests the wonders of sex and the delectable food she can eat. She enjoys these things to their peak because she does not care what others think.
Then, when she meets Harry Astley, he exposes her to the crueller side of the world. From there, Bella has to accept her world and the pitfalls that come with it. She begins to find her means of earning money in Victorian society and makes the best of it. She tries her best to make the lives of those that she encounters better and punishes those who are cruel. She submits to the idea she cannot change the world but realizes a beautiful autonomy by making it better for those she is around. Perhaps the film tells us to make and love our world better. Our personal experiences will lead us to understand that the best thing we can do as humans is to help those we love and take joy from it.
Bella certainly does.
