POOR THINGS
Review by Pat Frickey
© WALT DISNEY GERMANY
POOR THINGS
IRELAND | UK | USA 2023 OPENING JANUARY 18 , 2024
DIRECTED BY YORGOS LANTHIMOS
WRITING CREDITS : TONY MCNAMARA , ALASDAIR GRAY
PRINCIPAL ACTORS : EMMA STONE , WILLEM DAFOE , MARK RUFFALO , RAMY YOUSSEF , CHRISTOPHER ABBOTT , VICKI PEPPERDINE , KATHRYN HUNTER
It ’ s wicked . Expect to be outraged , appalled , shamefacedly fascinated , and ultimately amused by Poor Things , based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray . Set in Victorian London , where the unorthodox Dr . Godwin Baxter ( Willem Dafoe ) has the unfortunate appearance of Boris Karloff ’ s Frankenstein ’ s monster . He inexplicably belches bubbles while carrying out anatomical experiments . He creates a pig merged with a chicken , a dog with a goose head , and , oh yes , his own human creature , Bella ( Emma Stone ), who he loves like a daughter . She is not a monster but a lovely young lady , rather rough around the edges , and certainly not shackled to the social mores of polite Victorian society .
The moviegoer first encounters toddler-Bella embedded in a young lady ’ s body . She smashes plates just for fun and screams uncontrollably when her “ father ,” who she calls God , leaves home to give lectures at the university . Yet Bella is rapidly maturing , her vocabulary is increasing daily , her movements become less awkward , and she pokes scalpels into the eyes of her very own cadaver more precisely . Godwin hires one of his students , decent , shy Max McCandles ( Ramy Youssef ) to monitor her progress ; this gentle soul has been obliquely handpicked to unabashedly fall in love with her . Before long , adolescent-Bella discovers the unadulterated pleasure of self-stimulation , leaving no near-lying fruit or vegetable unscathed . “ Bella discover happy when she want !” she exclaims unashamedly . Her awkwardness is diminishing , her rebelliousness is increasing , and her desire to go out into the world is unstoppable . Godwin and Max have to let her go when the sleezy cad Duncan Wedderburn ( Mark Ruffalo ) whisks her away to Lisbon so the couple can get on with the “ furious jumping ” they both so enjoy . But Duncan can ’ t curb her spirit . After spitting out food she doesn ’ t like while dining in polite company , she bristles when Duncan demands : “ You will confine yourself to three phrases —’ how marvelous ,’ ‘ delighted ,’ and ‘ how do they make the pastry so crisp ,’ yes ?” Well , no ! Emancipated- Bella breaks from Duncan in Paris and gleefully discovers she can earn a living with the oldest profession in the world .
A dream-like vision , Poor Things is a cross between Salvador Dali and ( a somewhat deranged ) Wes Anderson — very surreal , very stylized . Director Yorgos Lanthimos and cinematographer Robbie Ryan conjure a madly alternative world that the production designers Shona Heath and James Price have meticulously constructed . Godwin ’ s grotesque laboratory and opulent home are so chocka-block with authentic-looking and imagined Victorian delights , they at times resemble the pages in a children ’ s I Spy book . The first thirty minutes of the movie are black and white , perhaps to reflect Bella ’ s infantile perspective and / or to mimic monster movies of old . Once Bella
54 HAMBURG HAPPENINGS