breaks free from Godwin and Max , the rest of the movie springs to life in vibrant colors , though not necessarily the colors we experience in our lives ; the film ’ s color palette is hauntingly askew . Jerskin Fendrix ’ s magnificent score , often discordant and jarring , is perfectly interwoven into the soul of the film . Costume designer Holly Waddington , who has had a lot of experience with period costumes , lets her imagination run wild , dressing Bella in clothing with gloriously haphazard Victorian flair . Nothing quite matches , everything is a zany marvel , and every outfit she wears is outrageously fun . ( The costumes from Poor Things were featured at an exhibition at the FIDM Museum in Los Angeles in December of last year , followed by an exhibition at the Barbican Centre in London , ending in mid-January .)
Poor Things is a breathtaking film . All the actors are superb , making it almost impossible to choose a favorite . It ’ s not unusual to see moviegoers file out of the theater in silence , dazed after watching this epic two-hour-and twenty-one-minute film . Black humor has never been so lavishly seductive . 141 minutes .
BABY TO GO
Review by Becky Tan
Artificial intelligence keeps taking charge , now even controlling the birth of babies . They are no longer carried in a mother ’ s womb . Now , the fertilized egg is placed in a plastic pod , set on a shelf in the Womb Center , and opened nine months later to release a new- “ born ” baby . Rachel ( Emilia Clark ), who is already professionally connected with the technical world , decides that this is the way to go . Why suffer pregnancy and the pain of birth while pursuing a career if there is another possibility ? Her husband Alvy ( Chiwetel Ejiofor ), father of the child , is skeptical ; he works in the botanical world , planting in the forest . He wants a “ natural ” child . At least it shouldn ’ t sit on a shelf . Papa picks up the pod and carries it around , as if he were pregnant .
The original title , The Pod Generation , becomes Baby to
Go in Germany , although perhaps “ Baby to Come ” would be more logical . In the end , Rachel and Alvy take off to sit at the seaside on Shell Island , a “ natural ” environment for a birth . Perhaps they have reached a kind of compromise , after 110 minutes of arguing . And then there is the olive tree . Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor are excellent British actors , both born in London , both worth your time in the cinema , even though the film is a bit repetitious and could work just as well thirty minutes shorter . Baby to Go premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival , where it won the Alfred P . Sloan Prize , awarded to films featuring science or technology . 110 minutes .
© SPLENDID FILM
BABY TO GO
THE POD GENERATION
BELGIUM | FRANCE | UK 2023 OPENING JANUARY 11 , 2024
DIRECTED BY : SOPHIE BARTHES
WRITING CREDITS : SOPHIE BARTHES
PRINCIPAL ACTORS : EMILIA CLARKE , CHIWETEL EJIOFOR ,
ROSALIE CRAIG , VINETTE ROBINSON , JEAN-MARC BARR
CURRENTS 55