**SOME SLIGHT SPOILERS THROUGHOUT**
I’ve talked a lot about the kinds of films that tend to fall under the typical “Oscar Bait” platform. This year, you have something like Maestro as a very prime example of that trope…and done to such a laborious level.
Like a beacon of hope though, we’ve been seeing more unlikely films slip through the cracks whether they be foreign films (Parasite), sci-fi/fantasy/romances like The Shape of Water, or everything that was Everything Everywhere All at Once.
When I look at a film like Poor Things, I can’t help but think back to earlier last year when online film pundits weren’t quite sure how a film like this would be received by the industry.
I can’t say that I or anyone can be right every time, but I sort of had a strange feeling that this one would break through.
Even looking at the film now, I do have to wonder how well it would’ve done with the Academy had it come out 30 or 20 or as recently as 10 years ago.
Due to many personal setbacks over the last two months such as work and having COVID and the death of my beloved grandmother, I’ve been a little less engaged and available to watch new films…and it is due to that reason that I will be holding off on doing my Best of 2023 for a little while longer.
Here’s a spoiler for you: Poor Things is going to be firmly on that list. As the last of the Best Picture nominees that I got to see, I felt like I was watching a true visionary at work.
Set in a very abstract and colorful Victorian London (and partly in Paris and Lisbon), Poor Things begins with a medical student named Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) who attends a class led by the eccentric and disfigured Dr. Godwin Baxter (Wilem Dafoe). When Max defends Godwin to a trio of cruel classmates, he takes him under his wing as an assistant and introduces him to Bella (Emma Stone). It is revealed that Bella is actually a woman who committed suicide by jumping off a bridge and happens to be discovered by Baxter shortly after she drowned.
Upon pulling her out of the water, he discovers she is pregnant and in order to experiment on bringing her back to life, uses the brain of her unborn fetus to implant into her...which therefore gives her an infant's mind and temperament.
Max does take a strange liking to Bella, which Godwin (whom Bella calls God) notices and he says he should marry Bella on the condition that he move into his home. In order to solidify all the rules, he hires a lawyer named Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) to oversee the process, but Duncan sees an opportunity to insert himself....which...umm...you can take that in multiple ways as you will soon learn....and he asks to take the curious Bella, whose intelligence is increasing rapidly, with him to Lisbon on a trip.
Bella's curiosity for the world seems to be as infectious as it is infuriating for those around her...but perhaps the greatest asset to Duncan is the fact that Bella has discovered masturbation, and he is happy to supply the sex.
I will leave the plot synopsis at that, and try to explain why this rather dark and ridiculous concept actually became a film that I very much enjoyed.
When a film explores subject matter such as suicide, child abuse, and body mutilation through a lens that can often be as uncomfortable as it is wacky, it comes as no surprise that it would have its fair share of detractors...but even with these detractors, I am amazed at how well this film has been widely received; it is a truly pleasant surprise that I am very happy to see!
Yorgos Lanthimos films are becoming such a distinct subgenre of their own in terms of the style and approach. His visual aesthetic seems as recognizable to me now as that of someone like Wes Anderson or Stanley Kubrick. With this film and his previous effort, The Favourite, Lanthimos did not write the scripts. Both films were written by Tony McNamara (with Deborah Davis co-writing The Favourite), and his writing style works so well with Lanthimos' touch. The film is FUNNY and has such a sharp wit that is practically frothing at the mouth. Lanthimos' early work such as Dogtooth and The Killing of a Sacred Deer had darker psychological elements mixed with absurdity...and both led to fairly polarizing results. For example, I was fond of Dogtooth but mainly disappointed in Killing of a Sacred Deer. I do think he is a good writer for the most part, but I do think McNamara proves to be an amazing asset to him.
Watching Poor Things was, as I stated earlier, being able to see a visionary at work...and the tech team deserves to be highly commended as well. The set design, costumes, lighting, and cinematography are all luscious and first rate. For the alternate reality they are trying to create, the film simply pops with glorious colors and sumptuous visuals as if it were like a new example from something out of the world of Terry Gilliam.
The film would also likely suffer to an unbearable level if it didn't have the right Bella Baxter, but this is easily the best performance of Emma Stone's career to date. This is a very brave and bold performance and it shows a lot of great physical commitment...and not surprisingly, her comic timing is down pat.
I do have to commend both Wilem Dafoe and Ramy Youssef for their supporting work as well, along with Margaret Qualley's hilarious cameo as Felicity and Kathryn Hunter as a French madam named Swiney.
The whole film works marvelously well, although perhaps it could've been trimmed a little more tightly here and there...but a lot of the film's best scenes involve Stone and Mark Ruffalo.
I think most of us know that Mark Ruffalo is a solid and commendable actor who has been doing wonderful work for decades now, but this might be my favorite performance of his.
Not only is Duncan Wedderburn such a departure for him, it really just goes to show you how much some actors never truly get to stray from their usual comfort zone. Even in interviews, Stone would comment how much Ruffalo would feel so upset by how ridiculous rude he was being and then just easily switch it on without any issue.
I mean...yeah...good actors can do it that kind of thing and Ruffalo is a good actor! In my opinion, Ruffalo should've been far more competitive for the Supporting Actor Oscar and he would also get my vote out of the nominees. His chemistry with Stone is so wonderful that it almost feels like some kind of screwball comedy pairing but in an acid-high of a world.
I would also fully support Emma Stone winning as well, even though she already has an undeserved first Oscar for La La Land...but her work here is pitch perfect.
Her and Ruffalo are both involved in some fairly explicit sex scenes which we all know tends to be the MPAA's Public Enemy #1 as opposed to violence and bloodshed. If anything, I feel like had the film focused on it a little more, they may have ended up flirting with an NC-17 rating but I am glad that didn't end up happening as that rating can be quite the death knell.
Like I said earlier, Poor Things will most certainly make an appearance on my top 10 list for 2023 once it is made. Among the Best Picture nominees, it easily makes my top 5.
For such a wacky and somewhat disturbing and profound and hilarious film, Poor Things tread a fine line the entire time and I honestly feel like it never really faltered.
Bravo to all involved here!
My rating for POOR THINGS is:
9.5/10
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