Anyone who’s seen any of Yorgos Lanthimos’ movies can attest that his kooky, eccentric style isn’t for everyone, but it’s always provocative and thought-provoking. I’ve only seen two of his films, The Lobster (2015) and The Favourite (2018), and it’s been five years since he made his last feature. Well, the wait is over for fans of this Greek filmmaker, today Searchlight Pictures released the first trailer of his Frankenstein twisted reimagining:

Poor Things features an incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), 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.

This is apparently Lanthimos’ first adaptation of a novel, written in 1992 of the same name by Scottish author Alasdair Gray. Tony McNamara, with whom the director collaborated on The Favourite and is the showrunner of another royal-themed The Great series, adapted the screenplay. Now, the trailer is made out to be a bizarre, surrealistic, and funny sci-fi drama, but a quick check on Good Reads about the original novel reveals a pretty dark tale:

Poor Things is a postmodern revision of Frankenstein that replaces the traditional monster with Bella Baxter – a beautiful young erotomaniac brought back to life with the brain of an infant. Godwin Baxter’s scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realized when he finds the drowned body of Bella, but his dream is thwarted by Dr. Archibald McCandless’s jealous love for Baxter’s creation.

Not sure how loyal this movie would be to the book, but McCandless’ first name in the movie is listed as Max (played by Ramy Youssef). Surely it’s a juicy role for Stone, and from what I’ve seen so far, she just might get another Oscar nomination next year. Always great to see Dafoe in anything and I’m surprised he hasn’t worked with Lanthimos before, sounds like those two would make an excellent pairing. The rest of the cast is pretty good as well, Christopher Abbott, Margaret Qualley, and Kathryn Hunter (who was phenomenal in The Tragedy of Macbeth).

The trailer promises some stunning imagery to go with this haunting tale. I’m definitely intrigued by this one, but we’d have to wait until Fall to see this. POOR THINGS will be released in theaters on September 8, 2023.

What do you think of this trailer?

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