Poor Things

Winner of the Golden Lion at the 2023 Venice Film Festival and with around eleven nominations for the 2024 Oscars, Poor Creatures is a surrealist romance, with an M/16 rating, based on the literary work by Alasdair Gray that presents the life of Bella Baxter and her journey for knowledge and a fair, equal and free life in a secretive world oppressed by the moral norms of a society that hides in a veil of uncertainty.

Beginning in black and white, the viewer is introduced to the routine of scientist and anatomy professor Godwin Baxter (played by Willem Dafoe), a brilliant and peculiar scientist who "plays" with nature and, through logic and science, assembles and disassembles creatures, filling his house with four-legged ducks and pig-headed chickens. Tormented by his father (who was also a scientist and the founder of the university where he teaches), Godwin (nicknamed "God" by those closest to him, making a joke in English with the figure of "God") represents the dehumanisation of the Human Being through Science, where all the answers to the Human Body must be answered with crude, graphic and inhuman experiments (which fits in with the film's narrative, as it possibly takes place at the end of the 19th century). Godwin Baxter lives with his maid, Mrs Prim (played by Vicki Pepperdine) - who is the typical stereotype of a grumpy Victorian maid who obeys blindly - and with the slender Bella Baxter (played by Emma Stone), a young adult who is initially treated as having cognitive disabilities and behaves like a child. For Bella, Godwin is the centre of the world (hence the pun on Bella's term "God"), but he is the same one who prevents her from seeing the world and oppresses her thirsty desire for exploration, behaving like the over-protective "oppressive father" often depicted in classic literature. After the viewer learns more about Bella's supposed past, we are introduced to Max McCandles (played by Ramy Youssef), Godwin's only student who doesn't judge him by his appearance and who gains his trust. Godwin invites Max to be his assistant and, later, to help him catalogue the evolution of Bella's behaviour. As time goes by, Bella develops a more refined intellect and a mutual affection for Max that leads to a marriage proposal and the creation of a document that further oppresses Bella's freedom, leading her to run away with a bohemian gallant called Duncan Wedderburn (played by Mark Ruffalo).

Separated into six parts, the narrative focuses on Bella's psychological growth and the way she begins to interpret the society around her, without moral filters and "pure" in a toxic society. Bella's life becomes a projection of the constant struggle for freedom and women's rights in a patriarchal world. From the discovery of carnal pleasure to the impact of the cruelty of social differences, Bella ends up travelling the world accompanied by Duncan, who initially just wants to live a life of luxury with Bella, abusing her innocence and lack of morals. From London they move on to Lisbon, where Pastel de Nata and Fado conquer Bella's heart (now in a world of colour), a cruise on the Mediterranean where philosophical questions about the meaning of life are challenged and finally Paris, where the political ideals of Socialism reach Bella's mind (and free herself from Duncan).

There are some surprising revelations in the course of the film that can't be revealed, as well as moments that take the viewer's breath away. The "horny" scenes (excessive in my opinion) represent Bella's indomitable and free spirit and the strong and important feminist message the film carries is remarkable. With sets straight out of fantasy books (Lisbon being the most superb) and curious costumes, Poor Creatures could be considered a lot of things, but it's definitely a sensational film. The choice of camera shots and the evolution from black and white to colour bring the film to life and we must highlight the performance of the incredible Carminho, an amazing Portuguese fado singer, who gives her voice to a remarkable moment. I therefore conclude this review with a rating of 9.5/10.

I loved this movie from start to finish. Went into it having zero clue what it was about, and only knew Emma Stone was in it. 2 mins in I leaned over to my partner and said "this movie is absolutely bonkers, and I love it!"

What kind of genius is that! All of the acting was on point, the cinematography was A++ the costumes and sets/scenes/CGI, I actually just can't fault it. I laughed so loud, so many times, and I shed a few tears too.

Very poignant, and poetic, with fantastic "morals of the story" I took away a lot, it had beautiful messages of self growth and discovery. Had the good, the bad and the ugly, all mixed into a weird lil soup.

Best movie I have seen in a very long time. Big fan.

Clearly a lot of people enjoyed this grotesque movie, but it wasn't for me. Some of the scenes in it made me feel sick, and maybe they were supposed to, but it seemed unnecessary. Don't even get me started on how pretentious the movie was.

I also found this movie very frustrating because the acting was good, the sets and costuming were good, and some scenes used striking cinematography. These things all made me feel like I should've liked the movie, but I don't. It could have been put to much better use.

The sex and nudity is beyond gratuitous. I'm usually not bothered by sex scenes in movies, but for this particular film it felt perverted. Maybe the director has a weird fetish.

Ultimately, this film made me want to crack my own head open and pour bleach over my brain. It's one of those movies I'd like to block out. I don't think I'll ever watch anything else by Lanthimos.

Where to begin with this one....

First off, the performances presented here are top of their class. Absolutely phenomenal! In a film with characters as strange as these, you need a strong cast and every player here was up to the task and more! Just brilliant!

Secondly, the story is insane. I mean padded room, straight jacket type of insane. When reading the synopsis, I was thinking about how wild of a concept it was and did not think they could pull off such an audacious plot. However, Yorgos and company had a specific vision for this film and it shows in the amount of detail in both the screenplay and the visionary artistic decisions. I can say, they completely nailed it!

Thirdly, exploring the human condition through sexuality, in all emotional forms, has been done before. Though, never quite like this. It was refreshing to see it through the eyes of someone reborn and ready for everything life had to throw her, as opposed to the usual timid youthful eyes.

Lastly, the cinematography is wonderfully done. Mixing between black and white to full color, with wild scenery and beautifully detailed architecture. Sometimes the film felt like a dream captured within a painting. It was quite beautiful.

Overall, I would highly recommend it. I don't think it will be everyone's cup of tea. It is very artsy, very sexually uncomfortable, and very strange. However, if you enjoy great storytelling and truly original visions on film, better see this on the big screen.

4.5 surgerys out of 5.

This isn't an easy film to watch and capture everything it tries to convey, on the contrary, it's quite complex.

I'm not a deep connoisseur of Freud, on the contrary, I studied some of his texts when I went to journalism school, but I remember very little, I'm actually unfamiliar with the subject, but clearly "Poor Things" seems to me to work with some points of psychosexual development human developed by Freud.

I may be talking nonsense, but it seems to me that the sexual phases of children described by Freud (oral, anal, genital, etc.) are shown in Bella's development during the projection, as well as her total independence and freedom in relation to the world and in the passage of each of those phases, without being repressed, allowing her to reach the superego.

While working with complex concepts of the development of the human psyche, the film also flirts wonderfully with the frustrations of love, and social, political and human issues, and I honestly couldn't capture everything the work was offering me, a lot of details must have escaped my attention.

So much content, so much complexity, inserted in a spectacular, wonderful cinematography, with exuberant sets, elaborated down to the smallest details, with perfect use of vivid colors and black and white, actors shining on the screen, all of them without exception, incredible direction, and a soundtrack very strange that fits like a glove.

I rate it 8 out of 10 because my ignorance really didn't allow me to capture everything that was being offered to me, and at some moments I felt a little tired from demanding so much of my brain, but it's a great film in all aspects. It's just not for everyone, as it's not what you would call popcorn entertainment cinema, on the contrary, it's the opposite, and perhaps the trailer could mislead certain types of audiences.