A-Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos Starring Emma Stone, Marc Ruffalo, and Willem Dafoe Review by Jon Kissel |  |
Lanthimos continues his decade-plus long streak of entertaining provocations with Poor Things. The Greek director Yorgos has never been softer or more optimistic than he is here. That turn towards happy endings and pure comedy is not a loss of edge but the evolving ability to apply his style of filmmaking towards something bouncier and satirical. By far the most accessible of his films, Poor Things nonetheless looks and sounds like few others. Based on the film’s critical and commercial success, Lanthimos cements his status as one of the most important and inventive directors in modern cinema.
Recurring Lanthimos cast member Emma Stone shared the spotlight with Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz in Lanthimos’ previous film The Favourite, but in Poor Things, Stone’s the undisputed star. As Bella Baxter, a turn-of-the-20th-century woman resurrected by mad scientist Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) with the brain of an infant, Stone is giving a physical performance par-excellence. As her brain rapidly catches up to her body, Bella uses the few men around her to escape Godwin’s home/laboratory and explore the world, throwing herself into the pleasures and philosophies of the period, whether that be egg creams in Lisbon, cynicism from Jerrod Carmichael’s Harry Astley, or sex with lothario lawyer Duncan Wedderbum (Marc Ruffalo). Bella’s European tour extends from a Moroccan port to a Parisian brothel, all of which teach her about the beautiful and terrible nature of the world.
So much of the joy of watching a Lanthimos film is the sense of discovering how the world works. This was particularly true in Dogtooth and The Lobster, and in Poor Things, Lanthimos flips it. The viewer understands how the world works, while Bella doesn’t, and through Stone, we watch her marvel at each new unbelievable development. A recurring theme for Lanthimos is the inexplicable mystery of human behavior, a mystery that Bella, raised by a scientist, is determined to solve. Being a kind of child, everything must be explained to her, and the people tasked with the explaining are either too stupid or too self-interested to do a thorough job, with a few exceptions. Her status as a mental child has skeeved some viewers away from the film, but Lanthimos’ style, with a wholly unique cinematography from Robbie Ryan and a gonzo Oscar-winning production design, give the film an alien, distancing look and makes the taking of anything that happens as literal an impossibility. It’s a steampunk science fiction what-if film that doubles as a baby’s-first-feminism and a coincidental R-rated retort to Barbie, 2023’s other film about created women who fit poorly into the boxes that have been constructed for them.
Lanthimos’ previous favorite actor, Rachel Weisz, existed in his films as the pure distillation of her strengths, namely a cool iciness and preternatural competence that’s hiding a desire for honesty and love. With Stone, operating at an earlier stage of her career, those strengths are still being uncovered. Hers and Lanthimos’ relationship appears to be experimental, like she goes to him to try new things and he’s more than happy to oblige. The easiest thing to say about Stone’s performance is that it’s brave, a shorthand for she’s frequently naked. Another thing to say about it is that it’s controlled and precise, mastering every movement and thought. Bella at her youngest is figuring out how to walk, stiff-legged and bobbling, while Bella at the hour mark is at mental confidence but physical awkwardness, embodied by yet another riotous Lanthimos dance sequence.
Complementing Stone is a cast of actors who match the insane lengths that she’s going to. Ruffalo is going for vaudeville comedy, playing to the back row as he snivels and sneers and melts into an impotent villain. Poor Things isn’t a subtle film, and Ruffalo is the embodiment of the anti-feminist whiner lamenting a past when deeply subpar men could at least tell themselves they weren’t as low on the social hierarchy as the most capable woman. He’s watching that past vanish before his eyes, and it’s hilarious to behold. Dafoe, in heavy makeup to accentuate the scars caused by a sadistic scientist of a father, is affecting in a way very little in Lanthimos is. When he’s not hooking himself up to the elaborate system of pipes and steam engines he needs to eat, he’s dropping tidbits about his horrific childhood that accuse and pardon his father in the same breath. Where Bella is all why’s, Godwin cannot turn that questioning onto his own life, and watching Dafoe wrestle with that inability is some of his best work. Hannah Schygulla stands out as an unflappable older woman that Bella meets on a cruise, though Carmichael and Ramy Youssef as Godwin’s assistant are a bit outmatched by the material. Conversely, a late emergence of one of my favorite actors, who’s never met material he couldn’t match, gives the film a rocket boost of cartoon intensity.
Lanthimos’ next film, Kinds of Kindness, reunites him with his old writing partner from Dogtooth and The Lobster, and while the films between those and Poor Things have been great, Lanthimos is at his highest output when he’s making pitch-black political allegories starring actors who speak like aliens. Poor Things is an incredible and fun film, but it’s not up the standard that the Lanthimos of the 2010’s set for himself. For all of its visual flair and heightened premise, it’s not particularly surprising in its plot or its themes. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Gulliver’s Travels, a fine thing to reference but not a wholly original mind-blower. Lanthimos is such a unique talent that I want him to continue to push the envelope, not soften as the budgets and box office returns grow. A-
So much of the joy of watching a Lanthimos film is the sense of discovering how the world works. This was particularly true in Dogtooth and The Lobster, and in Poor Things, Lanthimos flips it. The viewer understands how the world works, while Bella doesn’t, and through Stone, we watch her marvel at each new unbelievable development. A recurring theme for Lanthimos is the inexplicable mystery of human behavior, a mystery that Bella, raised by a scientist, is determined to solve. Being a kind of child, everything must be explained to her, and the people tasked with the explaining are either too stupid or too self-interested to do a thorough job, with a few exceptions. Her status as a mental child has skeeved some viewers away from the film, but Lanthimos’ style, with a wholly unique cinematography from Robbie Ryan and a gonzo Oscar-winning production design, give the film an alien, distancing look and makes the taking of anything that happens as literal an impossibility. It’s a steampunk science fiction what-if film that doubles as a baby’s-first-feminism and a coincidental R-rated retort to Barbie, 2023’s other film about created women who fit poorly into the boxes that have been constructed for them.
Lanthimos’ previous favorite actor, Rachel Weisz, existed in his films as the pure distillation of her strengths, namely a cool iciness and preternatural competence that’s hiding a desire for honesty and love. With Stone, operating at an earlier stage of her career, those strengths are still being uncovered. Hers and Lanthimos’ relationship appears to be experimental, like she goes to him to try new things and he’s more than happy to oblige. The easiest thing to say about Stone’s performance is that it’s brave, a shorthand for she’s frequently naked. Another thing to say about it is that it’s controlled and precise, mastering every movement and thought. Bella at her youngest is figuring out how to walk, stiff-legged and bobbling, while Bella at the hour mark is at mental confidence but physical awkwardness, embodied by yet another riotous Lanthimos dance sequence.
Complementing Stone is a cast of actors who match the insane lengths that she’s going to. Ruffalo is going for vaudeville comedy, playing to the back row as he snivels and sneers and melts into an impotent villain. Poor Things isn’t a subtle film, and Ruffalo is the embodiment of the anti-feminist whiner lamenting a past when deeply subpar men could at least tell themselves they weren’t as low on the social hierarchy as the most capable woman. He’s watching that past vanish before his eyes, and it’s hilarious to behold. Dafoe, in heavy makeup to accentuate the scars caused by a sadistic scientist of a father, is affecting in a way very little in Lanthimos is. When he’s not hooking himself up to the elaborate system of pipes and steam engines he needs to eat, he’s dropping tidbits about his horrific childhood that accuse and pardon his father in the same breath. Where Bella is all why’s, Godwin cannot turn that questioning onto his own life, and watching Dafoe wrestle with that inability is some of his best work. Hannah Schygulla stands out as an unflappable older woman that Bella meets on a cruise, though Carmichael and Ramy Youssef as Godwin’s assistant are a bit outmatched by the material. Conversely, a late emergence of one of my favorite actors, who’s never met material he couldn’t match, gives the film a rocket boost of cartoon intensity.
Lanthimos’ next film, Kinds of Kindness, reunites him with his old writing partner from Dogtooth and The Lobster, and while the films between those and Poor Things have been great, Lanthimos is at his highest output when he’s making pitch-black political allegories starring actors who speak like aliens. Poor Things is an incredible and fun film, but it’s not up the standard that the Lanthimos of the 2010’s set for himself. For all of its visual flair and heightened premise, it’s not particularly surprising in its plot or its themes. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Gulliver’s Travels, a fine thing to reference but not a wholly original mind-blower. Lanthimos is such a unique talent that I want him to continue to push the envelope, not soften as the budgets and box office returns grow. A-
RSS Feed