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Poor Things — Review: The Weirdest Masterpiece I’ve Seen in Many Years
by KJ Proulx
For the reason that I’m completely unsure who this film is aimed at (aside from film lovers like myself), I will not be recommending this one, but I’ll also state that this is one of my favourite films in years. If that intrigues you, then maybe Poor Things is your cup of tea. Yorgos Lanthimos is a director with a clear vision that I deeply admire. I don’t love all of his work, but the worst I can say about any of his films is that I appreciate them. Well, Poor Things just jumped to the top of my list of favourite Lanthimos pictures. This is a pure work of art, in the weirdest, most bizarre way possible. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the brilliance of Poor Things. Let’s dive right in.
The film begins as Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) finds the dead body of a pregnant woman. After taking her corpse to his lab, he makes an incision and removes the baby from her body. He then takes out the woman’s brain and replaces it with her baby’s brain. Then, much like in the style of Frankenstein, he reanimates the body and she comes to life. He refers to her as Bella (Emma Stone) and refuses to let her leave home. Much like an infant, Bella learns to walk, speak, and also learns every detail of her body. Upon meeting Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), the two of them form a connection and…
