Review -- Poor Things

                                    

Every once in a while, a movie comes out that changes your perspective. Every once in a while, you find yourself cheering for a unique character and immersing yourself in dialogue so rich, you wonder what universe it had come from. Based on Alasdair Gray's 1992 novel, Yorgos Lanthimos's Poor Things is one of such life-affirming, exhilarating cinematic experiences. You will not see anything else like it.

 **SPOILERS AHEAD**

After a pregnant woman (Emma Stone) dies by suicide, an eccentric doctor (Willem Dafoe) revives her by replacing her brain with that of the baby she had been carrying and names her Bella. While Bella's brain develops, she starts yearning to participate in the world more, and so her daring and self-exploratory adventure begins...

The movie's look and ambience is so lavish in texture, it feels like we are able to reach out and touch the surrealist world that Lanthimos has created. Occasionally reminiscent of Michel Gondry's works, particularly 2013's Mood Indigo, Poor Things is an opulent visual feast of an alternative Victorian Europe, with touches of steampunk along the way. Holly Waddington's costumes and the production design by James Price, Shona Heath and Zsuzsa Mihalek -- all Academy Award winners for their work here -- lead the way in tactile triumph and creativity. Robbie Ryan's cinematography is equally vivid, especially the Lisbon and Paris scenes.

The movie's usage of black-and-white and color is also impressive. The color is infused once Bella has intercourse for the first time, showing how thirsty Bella is for intimacy and human connection. She goes about achieving them in a reverse way due to the circumstances, but once she starts discovering herself as a fully formed person and as a woman, her true life begins. Sexual expression represents liberation and freedom in this story, as it does in some other movies from recent decades. Much like Joan Allen's Betty in Pleasantville, who is no longer black-and-white after engaging in self-pleasure and after a lifetime of not taking care of her needs, the usage of color in Poor Things serves to emphasize Bella's isolation and virtual captivity until she discovers the idea of sexual relations. 

The cast is fantastic. Stone is magnificent as Bella, giving one of the bravest performances that I have ever seen. Just pay attention to the character as she listens to music or the sequence in which she finds out about the concept of classes and injustice. The actress's face speaks volumes and her joyful eloquence fully conveys Bella's wonder, curiosity and open-mindedness. Mark Ruffalo is tragic and hilarious as a man who simply does not understand not being able to control a woman. His performance brings satire to the narrative and the actor runs with it. Dafoe also excels as a man so lost in his traumatic upbringing and what he considers to be science that he does not understand until the very end how the imposed lack of choice has affected his ersatz daughter. Ramy Youssef provides notes of sensitivity and rebellion to the part of medical student Max McCandles, while Christopher Abbott, Suzy Bemba, Jerrod Carmichael and Kathryn Hunter are outstanding in supporting roles.

In this retelling of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", the "monster" transcends boundaries to create and curate a rewarding existence for herself, going beyond societal expectations and patriarchal norms. The successes and travails of Bella Baxter are an example to us all and this heroine is someone who will stay in your mind for a long time. Finding her voice and independence is a courageous journey, even in this fantasy world that mirrors our own. In this sense, Poor Things is undoubtedly and unabashedly a feminist piece. However, even more than that, it is a humanist piece of art that encourages audiences to reassess themselves and their lives, to live to the fullest and to live their truth.

10/10