Special-K88 Review of Poor Things

Poor Things (2023)

may not be for everyone, but will stick with you for quite some time

[9 March 2024]

Set in a reimagined version of what (appears?) to be Victorian London comes this audacious, highly imaginative tale that could be seen as a black comedy, sci-fi fantasy, and some kind of screwy rom-com all in one! Dr. Godwin Baxter, a far-out, groundbreaking experimental surgeon whose moral code has many shades of gray, reanimates the brain of an unborn baby into the body of an adult woman resulting in the creation of Bella Baxter, a babbling "experiment" whose mental age and body are unsynchronized, but whose intelligence progresses at an accelerated rate. Max McCandles is the medical student hired to aid Godwin in monitoring Bella's growth, but when libertine lawyer Duncan Wedderburn enters the picture, Bella becomes insatiably curious about herself and the outside world...and so begins her grand, ubiquitous journey of self-discovery and liberation. Moviegoers with puritanical attitudes be warned: this risky, randy, unpredictable fare never attempts to shy away from any furious jumping, thus raunchy subject matter is plentiful and leaves little to the imagination, but still it's frequently hilarious and consistently engaging. Lanthimos has really outdone himself with the eye-catching visual schematics, and cast it to perfection with Ruffalo who's bumbling and over-the-top, Dafoe his usual, formidable self even behind the heavy prosthetics, Youssef who has a thankless yet still effective straight role, but without a doubt the real linchpin to this daring, wacky, twisted endeavor is a phenomenally fearless and freakishly funny Emma Stone who sheds all inhibitions to deliver what's arguably a career-best performance, one that's almost certain to live rent free in your head. While the story momentum does slow a bit in the latter half, there's still no denying the overall impact. ***