Poor Things Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Writers: Tony McNamara, Alasdair Gray
Starring: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem DeFoe
Do I recommend? I’m not sure. Honestly. It took me awhile to ponder how I felt about Poor Things so I sat on my thoughts for a month before writing my review. That’s because this movie raised so many feelings, I’m not sure where to start.
The most obvious: the sex. There were sooooo many sex scenes that were graphic, noisy and everywhere that I was embarrassed to watch them with my husband. Many of these sex scenes were repulsive, especially when you realize the age of the participants. There was no need to have this much sex in the movie because the story itself was captivating and beautiful.
The rest of the movie is thought-provoking and uniquely told. Emma Stone’s character is not Frankenstein, but there are similar qualities. Emma is genius in her journey of maturing, starting off with Doe eyes and narcissistic attitude to becoming a caring and generous woman. Willem DeFoe as the scientist was amazing – I’ve always been his fan but this role really sets him apart. Mark Ruffalo played his character very well – he was the bad guy in the movie and he exuded the charming sex predator role creepily well.
The costumes and sets were incredible. From the scientist’s home to the ship to Egypt to Paris – the fantasy sets were beautiful and the colors brilliantly set the audience in the mood for what was happening in the moment. The costumes are definitely award worthy!
Poor Things has been nominated as Best Picture for the 2024 Oscars, as well as many other nominations. It’s also won many other awards already. Rotten Tomatoes audience gave it 87% but I think if some (or all) of the unnecessary vulgar sex was removed, that rating would be higher. This beautiful fantasy story was mesmerizing and helps us old humans rethink how we could see life if we weren’t so jaded and set in our thoughts.
Resources:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14230458/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/poor_things
Renee Montgomery 