Poor Things Review: A Strange & Joyous Odyssey Features Emma Stone At Her Best

Poor Things could be easily slotted into any number of genres — a coming-of-age tale, a sex comedy, a riff on the Frankenstein trope. Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film, like its protagonist Bella Baxter, defies categorization to become something else altogether — a horny, hedonistic, and hysterical gem of a film with an all-time great performance from Emma Stone. Lanthimos has often bewildered audiences with his sensibilities, but Bella Baxter proves to be the perfect muse for the director’s inherent curiosity, a lens through which to look at the world that reveals harsh truths and startling beauty.

Poor Things introduces us to Bella Baxter and her surrogate father, Willem Dafoe’s Dr. Godwin Baxter (who goes by the nickname God). After reanimating her corpse, God insists on keeping Bella in the house, wary of the influence the outside world could have on her (it might also have something to do with the fact that he found Bella’s body after she died by suicide). As Bella’s curiosity grows, the walls of their manor (filled with scientific gadgets and half-breed creatures that casually walk in and out of the frame) become too suffocating for her — she longs to experience the world beyond her home, often taking to the roof to look out at Lanthimos’ fantastical version of London.

Poor Things is more than just a coming-of-age story. It’s an awakening — as Bella discovers the wonders and horrors of the world, so do we. Stone tracks Bella’s growth with an exacting awareness, imbuing the character with a sense of empathy, even when she’s shattering plates on the floor like a child or proclaiming that she is going to punch a baby because she doesn’t like the sound of it crying. Stone’s performance is the crowning achievement (so far) of an already illustrious career, all the better thanks to complementary performances from the supporting cast of Poor Things.

Mark Ruffalo is perhaps the biggest surprise as Duncan Wedderburn, a suitor who spirits Bella away from God and her betrothed, Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef). Wedderburn is a blubbering man-baby in the best way and Ruffalo shows off a comedic side that fits perfectly within the world of Poor Things. That world can be cruel — there are people who wish to take advantage of Bella, like Wedderburn, and a third-act twist reveals just how depraved things can get — but ultimately, the world of Poor Things, and the film itself, is surprisingly kind.

Bella’s thirst for experience may lead her down grim paths, but Tony McNamara’s script (based on the book of the same name by Alasdair Gray) is never condescending. It trades cynicism for absurdity and diffidence for maximalism. At a staggering 141 minutes, Lanthimos goes all out, from decadent sets and opulent costumes to scene-chewing moments for every curious character that Bella meets along the way (including Jerrod Carmichael, Kathryn Hunter, and Hanna Schygulla). Even when it gets bleak, Bella’s spirit (and Stone’s performance) never wavers, a testament to what it means to be open to what the world gives instead of being angry at what it takes.

For a film that could so easily buckle under the weight of excess, Lanthimos deftly avoids this by channeling the liberation of Bella with the help of cinematographer Robbie Ryan. His signature fisheye lens gives Poor Things a gaze as inquisitive as Bella’s and during a dance scene that calls back to Nicholas Hoult and Rachel Weisz in The Favourite, the camera swoops through the ballroom, capturing Bella and Duncan’s flailing limbs with both elegance and levity. Poor Things is filled to the brim with these kinds of moments, the ones that remind you why you go to the movies — it’s bewildering and brilliant with an unbridled interest in the joys of discovery and connection.