Having seen a couple of Yorgos Lanthimos’ films, I knew I was in for something bizarre and eccentric. Let’s just say nothing can quite prepare oneself for the insane wild ride of Poor Things. Apparently, the Greek filmmaker has been wanting to make this film since 2009, even approaching Scottish novelist Alasdair Gray about adapting his 1992 novel of the same name.

Collaborating with Emma Stone once again after The Favourite, who plays the protagonist Bella Baxter, a young Victorian woman who’s resurrected by a scientist following her suicide. The film begins with a pregnant woman throwing herself off a bridge to the water below. Incidentally, an unorthodox scientist named Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) finds her corpse and decides to bring her back to life, Frankenstein-style. As you’d likely guess as the surgical scene unfolds, the woman’s brain is replaced by the brain of her unborn baby. Much to Godwin’s surprise, Bella grows to develop at an abnormally fast rate.

It’s really quite extraordinary to watch Stone portray a baby in the body of a 35-year-old woman. The script by Tony McNamara astutely traces Bella’s growing process, from the way she walks, reacts to things, and how she looks at the world. Stone brings all of those aspects to life so valiantly that she said requires her to basically unlearn things and put away any sense of shame that would naturally come from behaving like Bella. Godwin’s assistant Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) is intrigued by Bella and quickly falls for her, to the point that he wants to marry her. It’s hilarious to see poor Max being constantly challenged by Bella’s sexual discovery and her utter lack of decorum in polite society. He’s aghast at Bella pleasuring herself at the dinner table, among other things, as she becomes more curious about her own body and the world around her.

Somehow Lanthimos ably mixes the freakish and gruesome (Godwin’s surgical scenes) with riotously funny bits of Bella developing outside of societal conventions. There’s also tenderness, especially in the father/daughter relationship between Bella and Godwin. One of the most moving moments is when Godwin tells Bella that she is the only one who sees him with love, instead of being repulsed by his disfigured face.

Things get more unpredictable with the arrival of attorney Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a scoundrel who’s enticed by Bella sexually. Duncan takes advantage of the fact that Bella craves more freedom and autonomy, and he whisks her on an adventure to roam the world and each other. Lanthimos doesn’t shy away from depicting the sexual escapades of the character, which Bella describes as ‘furious jumping.’ Stone and Ruffalo are committed to all the physicality the roles require, not just all the sex scenes but also the vigorous dance sequence that must’ve taken lots of hours of practice.

Duncan takes Bella on an adventure to Europe and Northern Africa on a steamer ship… where our heroine learns something new about the world as she meets more people and gets exposed to different things. A wealthy elderly woman named Martha (Hanna Schygulla) and her companion Harry (Jerrod Carmichael) introduce her to literature and philosophy, which annoys Duncan as she’d rather read books than do more furious jumping sessions with him. We also see Bella feel empathy when she gets her first glimpse of poverty and human suffering during a stop in Alexandria, Egypt.

As for her time in Paris, her sexual awakening is challenged during her stint as a prostitute at a Parisian brothel, under the guidance of Madame Swiney (the always memorable Kathryn Hunter). The sexually explicit scenes are seen from Bella’s point of view in this quasi-feminist coming-of-age fantasy, with a not-so-subtle message about female body autonomy as Bella happily quips that she’s ‘own means of production.’ While I don’t think the sex is gratuitous, a lot of the nude scenes in the brothel could’ve been toned down a bit without sacrificing the narrative.

As an art form, Poor Things is truly one of the most imaginative and gorgeous films in recent memory. It’d be a travesty if this film didn’t garner awards for the stunning cinematography (Robbie Ryan), dazzling costumes (Holly Waddington), and spectacular production design (Shona Heath, James Price). Ryan uses extreme wide-angle and fish-eye lenses to great effect, making the world feel even more surreal and off-kilter. I love the mix of black/white, which signifies Bella’s dull and sheltered life, and the vibrant color as she explores more of the world.

Stone will likely be the one to beat come Oscars time with her bravura performance. She’s thoroughly engaging from start to finish, the way she uses her body to show Bella’s evolution is astounding. Another fantastic character is Godwin, played by the venerable Willem Dafoe who never turns in a half-hearted performance in his illustrious career. His face resembles a cracked piece of ceramic object, a result of cruel scientific experimentations by his late father when he was young. His character’s backstory is almost as intriguing as Bella’s.

Now, I’m not as enamored with Mark Ruffalo who I think is a bit miscast here. Even in interviews, Ruffalo himself admitted that he wasn’t sure he could pull off the role. Overall he acquits himself well in the end despite that terrible British accent, but the right actor would’ve really shined in the role. Dafoe mentioned in several interviews that Oscar Isaac stopped by the set one day, now he or perhaps Josh Brolin would’ve been terrific as Duncan.

There is plenty to marvel at in Poor Things, but in the end, it’s Bella’s odyssey of self-discovery that makes the film worth watching, beautifully realized by Stone and the excellent ensemble cast. This movie is not for everyone, however, given how far Lanthimos pushes the envelopes with his no-hold-barred storytelling style. I was worried I would be put off by it, but this is now my favorite of his films so far. It took me a while to finally see this, as various things kept me from going to the theater after missing the press screening in November. But hey, better late than never and I have to say this one is well worth the looong wait.

Have you seen POOR THINGS? What did you think?

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