Give Emma Stone (La La Land, Battle of the Sexes) this year’s Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. This category is going to be STACKED for 2023-released, eligible movies. With six weeks left before the nominations, I have seen all films perceived as frontrunners. Lily Gladstone (Kill of the Flower Moon) was the thought-to-be shoo-in for most of the year heading into the fall. Gladstone delivers an award-deserving performance. However, I would rather see her considered in the Best Actress in a Supporting Role category, where I think that performance fits better (at the time of this post, it is still being determined which category Gladstone will be submitted for. The others expected to be in consideration for Best Actress in a Leading Role are Greta Lee (Past Lives), Carey Mulligan (Maestro), Margot Robbie (Barbie), and Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall). Each is deserving of a nomination. No one in this group has a chance to beat Stone or Gladstone. Stone is my pick to win.
Yorgos Lanthimos is far from my favorite movie director. This is the seventh feature-length directorial effort. I’ve now seen four. While I enjoyed The Lobster considerably more than I thought I would, I wouldn’t say I liked The Favourite or The Killing of the Sacred Dear. To my astonishment, The Favourite earned ten Oscar nominations. However, it won only one (Olivia Coleman – Best Actress in a Leading Role). Coleman’s performance was deserving. She was the only part of the movie I found even remotely interesting. While The Lobster intrigued me, it was weird. After three of his films, I learned that his style is similar to no other’s. After finding the box office and critical acclaim of The Favourite, I was worried that his future projects would try to emulate this success.
Particularly, I had fears about his next project, Poor Things. However, I had been hearing for weeks, even months, beforehand about the anticipation of this project. The premise intrigued me enough to see the movie, assuming it met the lofty expectations of the movie critics I follow online. It met their expectations and then some. I could not find one of the reviewers I follow who did not rate this movie highly. While I wasn’t expecting it to land on my top ten movies of the year list, I was hopeful that I would be entertained. If nothing else, I wouldn’t be in the dark on Oscar night, as this movie will be nominated for several awards. Not only did this movie make my top ten movies of 2023 list, but it also had a chance to be my favorite film of the year.
It’s hard to say too much about this film without spoiling it. I’ve included the following movie description from Rotten Tomatoes.
Poor Things is the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter. Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she lacks, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn, 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.
Poor Things feels like a mixture of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Babylon while sprinkled with a little bit of Pinnochio and pure, powdered white cocaine. I say this with great affection as David Fincher’s 2008 film is one of my all-time favorites, while Damien Chazelle’s film was my surprise treat of 2022 (primarily based on how much hate it received from the critics). All three films tell incredibly imaginative and wild stories. Each film has a fantastical story, an inventive director, an Oscar-deserving lead talent, a memorable cast of characters, and many other similarities. Still, this doesn’t mean that you will enjoy Poor Things if you like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or Babylon. While shorter than both movies, you’ll have a more challenging time keeping an audience member from leaving the theater or turning the channel while viewing Poor Things before the film is half over.
Bella (Stone) is a Victorian woman transplanted with an infant’s brain as part of one of Godwin’s (Willem Dafoe – The Lighthouse, At Eternity’s Gate) scientific experiments. Godwin, as we learn, is not a bad guy. His face resembles Frankenstein, the stitched-up look the result of failed experiments performed on him by his father. Bella calls him God, and he becomes her de facto father. From start to finish, we see Bella age intellectually from an infant to a 35-year-old woman, all while possessing the body of a 35-year-old woman. It is an exhilarating experience watching Stone showcase her talents with this character and material.
As we all know, Stone is gorgeous. Regardless of where or how she is viewed mentally, she will get her fair share of suitors. These include Godwin’s assistant, Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef). Max quickly becomes smitten with Bella, and Godwin agrees to marriage, assuming certain conditions are met. The unscrupulous Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher, Spotlight), a philanderer attorney, is hired by Godwin to ensure the pre-nuptial i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. Before we know it, and at the near infancy of her sexual curiosity, Duncan whisks Bella away, doing his best to hide her and keep her for himself. Ruffalo portrays Duncan with unbridled intensity and defiance. While his chemistry with Stone is magnetic, she (figuratively) danced circles around this three-time Oscar-nominated actor. Stone was so good that it felt like none of the other actors even belonged on the same stage as her.
Poor Things is a fabulous coming-of-age movie for that open-minded moviegoer who understands beforehand to expect the unexpected in all its transcendental and whimsical ways. It’s sharp, edgy, radical, funny, thought-provoking, and warm. Everything it does is with booming excess. Some will think it’s too much. I’m generally not the biggest fan of the dark comedy genre, and while I didn’t see this as one, I understand that others will. I did laugh, mainly at Bella’s reaction to discovering new things, whether it be her body or society in general, but I wouldn’t necessarily attribute the film to a comedy. There is an enormous amount of nudity and enough sex that could have warranted an NC-17 rating. It’s a film that should only be seen by adults, partially because of the content and the mature dialogue and themes.
Plot 9.5/10
Character Development 9.75/10
Character Chemistry 9/10
Acting 9.75/10
Screenplay 9.5/10
Directing 10/10
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 9.25/10
Universal Relevance 10/10
95.25%
A
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