Review by John Delia, Sr.
Bizarre as it may seem, one of the best movies for 2023 Poor Things, a strange film that is an escape from the ordinary, has been nominated for 11 Oscars. Not for the squeamish or anyone under adulthood, the film puts together one of the most outstanding screenplays in many years. The film is based on the book “Poor Things” by Scotsman Alasdair Gray, a notable novelist, playwright, and artist. According to Wikipedia His book was not his usual subject-matter of sticking to more Scottish realism and fantasy. So why does this film get the honor over 9 competitors and getting picked in more categories except for the film Oppenheimer? Simply said it’s different, intriguing, daring, and incredibly fearless.
Dr. Godwin “God” Baxter (Willem Dafoe) has a very odd medical practice. He delves in the macabre by carrying on his father’s theory of combining animals as part of his research. You know, putting the head of a duck on the body of a pig or other oddities. Growing up God leaned from his father being his human tissue donor. Now an honored professor at a medical school, he has finally been able to do what his father had never achieved, bring a human back to life. More exactly, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a pregnant woman who had just committed suicide.
The film takes you into the grand mansion of God who introduces you to Bella, his reanimation experiment who has reached the metal age of adolescence. Wanting to continue with her leap into the world to adulthood, God brings in Max (Ramy Youssef) one of his students to encourage her rapid development. So begins a wild, promiscuous and wicked trek that will entice Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a high society lawyer, to take advantage of Bella’s growing search of wanderlust.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer) creates a compelling and risky film from screen writers Tony McNamara and Alasdair Gray in a year that has some heavy competition, and makes Poor Things a winner. He does it with an outstanding cast, high profile locations, mind boggling costumes and a luxurious array of CGI to enhance his settings. Bella’s exciting and wicked fast moving tour of Europe keeps his enchanted audience wanting more right up to and including the twisted finale.
The whole cast gives exciting performances. Especially Emma Stone as the inquisitive reanimated woman. But how could she go wrong with a backup cast of veteran actors like Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo who nail their roles with interesting characters. Stone reaches deep into her courage bag creating the promiscuous and precocious Bella with tableaus of sexuality/nudity and gives her all as she breathes life into her character.
Bonus material and featurettes:
“Possessing Beauty – The Making of Poor Things”. Join Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone, cast and crew in the making of this fantastical film. Explore the costumes, makeup and prosthetics in detail. Take a tour with Willem Dafoe and see how Godwin and Bella’s home mirrors and accommodates them both.
“Deleted Things”
“Brothel Doctor”
“Alfie’s Chapter”
“Bella’s Notebook”
Poor Things has been rated R by the MPAA for strong and pervasive sexual content, graphic nudity, disturbing material, gore, and language. Now available from all major digital retailers including Prime Video, Apple TV and Vudu, it will also be available on Blu-ray and DVD starting March 12.