Way back in 2010, when I first saw Yorgos Lanthimos's very sinister and very bleak "Dogtooth," I never thought in a million years that the filmmaker would be responsible for a film as joyously funny and exuberantly weird as "Poor Things." It's sort of his take on a fairy tale narrative, one that is full of all the sick, twisted, disturbing things that you would expect from a Lanthimos film. However, it is also his first film in at least fifteen years that has what is unmistakably a happy ending.
Set in an alternate universe version of Victorian London, or maybe a Victorian London being experienced on drugs, we meet the brilliant surgeon Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) and his strange daughter Bella (Emma Stone). As Godwin explains to his new assistant Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef), Bella is a grown woman with the brain of an infant - one that is rapidly developing, and allowing her to experience an accelerated maturation. Godwin intends for Bella to never leave home so that she may remain protected, but his unscrupulous lawyer, Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), convinces Bella to run away with him, have lots of sex, and see the world. And so begins a fabulous, deranged voyage of discovery. Jerrod Carmichael, Christopher Abbott, Kathryn Hunter, Margaret Qualley, and Hannah Schygulla pop up later in smaller parts.
"Poor Things" has rightly been compared to "Frankenstein," with Bella as the monster learning about all the nonsense the world expects from her as a woman, and Godwin - who she calls "God" - as a far more benevolent mad doctor and father figure than we usually get in these stories. There are a lot of very serious subjects being explored here, primarily female sexuality and all the social constructs designed to suppress and control women. There's also some pointed discussion of philosophy, cynicism, and morality. However, thanks to Tony McNamara's script, this exploration happens with a ton of raunchy, explicit sex, some killer one liners, unexpected slapstick, and just a whole lot of bizarre, entertaining behavior on display.
Bella Baxter is an amazing, unnerving character, and Emma Stone's performance is fearless. We start out with Bella as a destructive infant teetering around on unsteady feet. Under Godwin's unorthodox care, she never develops a sense of shame about her sexuality, and once she figures out what sexual gratification is, pursues it relentlessly. She's also never had any exposure to the usual narratives about how men and women are supposed to interact, and so questions every attempt to stifle her natural inclinations with cheerful bluntness. Bella has her own particular patter full of mixed-up syntax and scientific terms, which is a lot of fun to pick apart once you get the hang of it. As she learns more about the world, her behavior changes accordingly, but she continues to follow her own desires and refuses to let others control her.
This confounds the men around her, especially Wedderburn. Mark Ruffalo has the other big performance in this movie. Initially, he seems to be a despicable villain, complete with twirly mustache, but Bella is so irrepressible and impossible to control, every attempt he makes just blows up in his face. His gradual ruination is placed in counterpoint with Bella's growth, punctuated by some wonderfully silly confrontations and blow-ups. He has some of the best slapstick scenes, especially when he's drunk and can only seem to express himself through violence and profanity. His comic timing and line delivery are perfect.
I haven't even gotten to the production design, which is fabulous and surreal. Full of oversaturated colors and architectural flourishes, (with hidden genitalia everywhere!) "Poor Things" is a fairy tale that takes place in an off-kilter version of the past that the filmmakers have shaped to their own liking. Emma Stone wears incredible, beautifully designed costumes that look like a little girl hacked apart much more modest garments and stuck them back together. Willem Dafoe is covered in prosthetics that make it look like he had to assemble his own face out of pieces of other faces.
Then you have the warped music by Jerskin Fendrix, Robby Ryan's cinematography bringing back all those fish-eye lenses from "The Favourite," and a dance sequence like no other in cinema history. There's no end to all the ways "Poor Things" delights in breaking the rules and doing things its own way. I came to the film a little overhyped for it, and didn't like certain elements as much as I hoped that I would. However, I'm so tickled by its verve and spirit, I couldn't help being entertained anyway.
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