With a star-studded team in front of and behind the camera, Poor Things is the must-see film of the summer. The bizarrely beautiful movie from director Yorgos Lanthimos has been the subject of Oscars buzz since it debuted at 2023’s Venice Film Festival, where it won the highest prize, the Golden Lion. And January 2024 has got off to a great start for the epic tale, with Emma Stone winning Best Actress at the Golden Globes.
The funny, fantastical and downright freaky film is based on Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel of the same name. The roster of incredible on-screen talent includes Emma Stone (who is also a producer), Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef and Mark Ruffalo.
Having wowed audiences and critics at previews around the world, the festival favourite is now screening in New Zealand, shining a renewed spotlight on arthouse cinema, thanks to its star power, lush sets and extravagant costumes.
Who is Bella Baxter?
Poor Things follows the coming-of-age journey of Bella Baxter (played by Stone), a woman who has been brought back to life by mad scientist Dr Godwin Baxter (nicknamed, rather appropriately, God and played by Willem Dafoe.
It’s a feminist take on Frankenstein, albeit an inverted version, where the ‘monster’ is a beautiful woman and her love interests are the potential monsters.
While it’s graphic and grotesque at times - the audience audibly squirmed during some of the surgical scenes - the dark themes are lightened by the film’s message of liberation, the visual spectacle and the wicked humour throughout.
The “happy tale” of Bella’s creation, as Dr Baxter puts it, is actually a rather macabre fairytale, with Bella the result of a disturbing surgical procedure. Having first experimented on a number of animals (spot the dog with the duck’s head wandering around the house), the scientist replaces her brain with that of an infant’s.
It’s a creepy premise, but it leads to many hilarious interactions. As she is still developing, albeit at an accelerated rate, Bella has the outspoken takes and irrational reactions of a toddler, which, as you can imagine, don’t go down well in polite Victorian society. Her lack of awareness of social norms leads to witty and scathing comebacks, unexpected violence, and pushback on the era’s oppressive attitudes towards women.
As Stone says: “Bella doesn’t have any shame or trauma, or even a back story. She’s not raised by a society that is putting these confines on women. That can be incredibly freeing.”
Dr Baxter has a paternal affection for his mad creature, who he initially keeps hidden away in his London mansion-cum-surgery.
Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.
Sumptuous storytelling from star Stone
This outlandish film could only come from Yorgos Lanthimos' provocative, darkly creative mind.
The Greek director is known for his black comedies and psychological horrors, including Dogtooth, The Favourite and The Lobster. Screenwriter Tony McNamara translated Lanthimos’ vision, while Stone came onboard as a producer after working on The Favourite with the pair (which all three received Academy Award® nominations for).
Stone has made a name for herself as both a comic actor (Easy A, Cruella and La La Land, for which she won an Academy Award®) and a dramatic one (Birdman, The Favourite). But this has been deemed her best performance yet. Her awkward gait and unusual way with words as she learns to walk and talk (her vocabulary rapidly increasing as she voraciously reads), help to bring her character to life.
At the Venice Film Festival, director Yorgos Lanthimos said Bella wouldn’t exist without Stone: “This film is her, in front of and behind the camera.”
Alongside Stone, Dafoe is mesmerising as the troubled scientist, Ruffalo shines as the caddish lawyer who falls for Bella’s charms then falls apart when she leaves him, and Youssef brings a tender heart to the film as Dr Baxter’s assistant who waits patiently for Bella.
Supporting these leading roles are a variety of larger-than-life characters including Martha Von Kurtzroc (Hanna Schygulla) and Harry Astley (Jerrod Carmichael), who befriend Bella onboard a ship, and the outrageous Madame Swiney (Kathryn Hunter), who brings the brothel scenes to life.
Whimsical set design
A feast for the eyes, Poor Things’ opulent costumes and sets will transport audiences to the 19th century, with a surreal, futuristic twist. The spectacular sets were created by the talented duo of James Price and Shona Heath (known for her work with fashion photographer Tim Walker).
Rather than filming on location, the whimsical sets were built from scratch in Budapest studios, with painted backdrops and LED screens completing the picture. Heath was inspired by Albert Guillaume’s satirical, futuristic drawings from the early twentieth century. “We always tried to imagine that this story was set in a past time, but with the vision of the future,” she explains.
“The story is so relevant today... the idea of patriarchy and of young women liberating themselves..."
Costume designer Holly Waddington had a similar take, outfitting Bella in a modern twist on Victorian shapes, with period silhouettes recreated in materials such as latex.
The costumes reflect Bella’s evolution from child to woman, with haphazard, half-dressed outfits consisting of babydoll dresses, bloomers and Victorian blouses making way for power coats and dresses.
“The colour palette and the materials that Holly used were all deeply thought through and inspired by what Bella is going through and how she’s evolving,” explains Stone.
This evolution, and Bella’s fight for freedom from the men who entrap her, is a story as relevant to the 21st century as the one in which it is set.
“The story is so relevant today, maybe more so than when we started writing it,’ screenwriter McNamara says. ‘The idea of patriarchy and of young women liberating themselves from being objectified has become so important in society. I hope that comes through.”
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