Mixed bag.
Poor Things is a tricky one.
There is a lot to like about this film - from the acting, costume & set design, humor, dialogue and cinematography, it all works wonderfully to fall under the umbrella of the arthouse genre they were aspiring to.
However, these attributes aren't melded together in a cohesive way, and the two words I would use for the editing of this film is very jarring. You will experience a comedic scene, straight to a sex scene, and then a tranquil and innocent scene with very little spacing between scenes to develop naturally.
Along with the jarring scene structure, the story pacing is very off. This is a movie that does not earn the 2+hour runtime it has. The movie spends way too much time indulging itself on scenes that have nothing to say about the story or it's underlying message. For instance, the message of our hedonistic desires growing up and their prevalence in immaturity is a great story beat, and you need to show it through gratuity and sex - but when the director shows you additional sex scenes within minutes of another, each more revealing and gratuitous as the last, you start to understand the director isn't trying to convey anything anymore, but these scenes are merely serving the purpose for tasteless and uncomfortable eye candy, and to indulge the director. (there's a 15+second shot of Emma Stones feet for crying out loud.)
There is a lot to like about this film - from the acting, costume & set design, humor, dialogue and cinematography, it all works wonderfully to fall under the umbrella of the arthouse genre they were aspiring to.
However, these attributes aren't melded together in a cohesive way, and the two words I would use for the editing of this film is very jarring. You will experience a comedic scene, straight to a sex scene, and then a tranquil and innocent scene with very little spacing between scenes to develop naturally.
Along with the jarring scene structure, the story pacing is very off. This is a movie that does not earn the 2+hour runtime it has. The movie spends way too much time indulging itself on scenes that have nothing to say about the story or it's underlying message. For instance, the message of our hedonistic desires growing up and their prevalence in immaturity is a great story beat, and you need to show it through gratuity and sex - but when the director shows you additional sex scenes within minutes of another, each more revealing and gratuitous as the last, you start to understand the director isn't trying to convey anything anymore, but these scenes are merely serving the purpose for tasteless and uncomfortable eye candy, and to indulge the director. (there's a 15+second shot of Emma Stones feet for crying out loud.)
- DaCurtis5
- Jan 16, 2024