Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things received various nominations at the 96th Academy Awards, among them the category for Best Picture, with which it’s marking a big first in the horror genre. Yorgos Lanthimos has explored different genres in his movies, and for Poor Things, he brought together sci-fi, comedy, drama, and horror. Based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray, Poor Things is set in a steampunk Victorian London, and introduces eccentric scientist and surgeon Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) and Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), his latest “creation”.
Bella was brought to life by Baxter but wasn’t the same person she used to be. After meeting wildly indulgent lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), Bella realizes there’s more to life than Godwin’s mansion and runs away with him. Together they embark on a wild journey of pleasure (all types of it) and self-discovery, with Bella learning the good and bad in people and the world. Poor Things was a critical success, with most praise going toward its performances, cinematography, and costume design, and with its Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards, it’s marking a big horror first.
Poor Things Ending Explained
Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things puts Emma Stone front and center. Her character, Bella, has quite the journey, and we break down the film’s ending.
Poor Things Is The First Frankenstein Movie To Be Nominated For Best Picture At The Oscars
As mentioned above, Poor Things is based on a novel by Alasdair Gray, and against what it seems, it’s not an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. However, both Gray’s novel and Lanthimos’ movie have some heavy Frankenstein influence, with Bella Baxter being another type of “Frankenstein monster”. Thanks to this and its Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards, Poor Things has become the first Frankenstein movie to be nominated in this category, though others have been nominated in other Oscar categories.
The 1974 comedy horror film Young Frankenstein, directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder as Frederick Frankenstein and Peter Boyle as the monster, was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound at the 1975 Academy Awards. Kenneth Branagh’s 1994 adaptation, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, was nominated at the 1995 Academy Awards for Best Makeup, and in 2013, Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie was nominated for Best Animated Feature. Poor Things is marking various firsts for Frankenstein movies at the Academy Awards, but the biggest one is its Best Picture nomination.
Only 6 Horror Movies Have Been Nominated For Best Picture At The Oscars
In addition to being the first Frankenstein movie to get a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards, Poor Things is joining a very small group of horror movies that got that same nomination. The first one was The Exorcist, in 1974, and it also got 10 other nominations, including Best Director and Best Actress, taking home the Oscar for Best Screenplay. In 1976, Jaws joined the list and was also nominated for Best Film Editing, Original Dramatic Score, and Sound, taking all these except Best Picture.
In 1991, The Silence of the Lambs became the first horror movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture, and it also took home the Oscar for Best Director, Actor, Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, and Sound. Next on the list is M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, which lost in all the categories it was nominated for.
In 2011, Black Swan was nominated for Best Picture, Director, and Actress, winning the latter, and Jordan Peele’s Get Out was nominated in 2018, but only won Best Original Screenplay. Poor Things is now part of this list, but it’s to be seen if it will join The Silence of the Lambs in an even more exclusive list of horror movies that got the Oscar for Best Picture.
Poor Things
Poor Things is a sci-fi romance film from The Lobster director Yorgos Lanthimos. The story focuses on the bizarre and fantastical world of Bella Baxter after a scientist named Dr. Godwin Baxter brings her back to life. The film is based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray.
- Release Date
- September 8, 2023
- Director
- Yorgos Lanthimos
- Cast
- Emma Stone , Willem Dafoe , Mark Ruffalo , Ramy Youssef , Jerrod Carmichael , Christopher Abbott
