Blake Bergman "Various Spaghetti"’s review published on Letterboxd:
"Poor Things" is a 2023 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. It's ultimately a film that defies direct genre based categorical convention. People holding broad descriptors can place it in the camp of drama, comedy, science fiction, or fantasy, but the sheer reality of it all is that this film is "Frankensteined" just much in genre-based form as the characters it showcases within it. Multi-layered, "Poor Things" is pretty expertly crafted on a multitude of levels, easily giving it the context of reasoning for the high benchmarks it has achieved.
If we are just taking the application of narrative for, it's a story that is quite unique in ideological tale. I'm also one that isn't going to forget that Frank Henenlotter's wonderfully campy film "Frankenhooker" (1990) exists (which would be an excellent paring with this film for bizarre contrast), but with there only being a charming wink in similarity between the two films. "Poor Things" is a traversing evolutionary road that hinges its every effort on compulsion and whim to the point that it's a rediscovery of how we have become so safeguarded in so many of faucets. Even with that blanketed meaning inserted, "Poor Things" still knows how to carry itself in fantastical whimsy with both its story and meaning, keeping its message light enough to keep elements of humor at arm's reach. I enjoyed "Barbie" (2023) which had something of a journey of similar yet different design (and I'll continue to give "Barbie" credit where credit is due with its uniqueness) but "Poor Things" displays much of the same energy in such a mad house formulation. I get it, with an IP like "Barbe" there is absolutely some arenas that it has to stick to, so I'll praise that film for being what it was in its arena and devotion to its brand. "Poor Things" easily had more creative abilities that it could get away with, so I'm not going to be one that really directly states that everything "Barbie" did, "Poor Things" might have done better. They are apples and oranges to each other but do have some similarities.
Simply put, "Poor Things" is so wickedly brilliant in its formulated satire and conjuring of characters. It's quite easy to also say that Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe were my favorites by design in this. Dafoe is perfectly bizarre already for the role, but Stone was able to expansively relish on just how crazy she could get with things. Mark Ruffalo took on a character role that you love to hate, and at first, he was not my favorite but as time goes on, I find that was sort of the point of his character in general. In that sense of things, mission absolutely accomplished. I don't know much about Ramy Youssef, but he was fine in that supporting meek role that let all the roles around him be held to higher magnitude. Honestly one major role that I think is a bit unsung is that of Christopher Abbott, who is easily one of the most hated and devilish things about this film. He's character arrives late and it's a little glossed over at this point, but that guy in character is the pure devil and the role was done quite well.
The creative endeavors in the technical arena are amazing equally as well. Yes, good old Lanthimos doubles down on weird, so you see that set up a mile away. So that being said, if you're going to be and everyone sees it coming, you better hit the damn thing out of the park so you're not just doing things for the sake of irony. That being said, Lanthimos and crew hit a "Grand Slam" is the stylization choices, from the efforts of art direction to movement of the cinematography, to the wonderment of music composition. The color tones are marvelous, both in the saturated early stages of black and white isolation, to the colorful adventure of grand discovery. The concept to use wide angle lenses throughout the film were amazing in the heightening of the strange and obtuse. Finally, the musical score of off tune musical notes being plucked at a constant took a bit to get used to, but it was an excellent inducement that aided the film's cinematography.
At the end of the day, "Poor Things" is really going to resonate in my mind with how wonderfully crazy its appetite to be strange is. It's a film that challenges the viewer, making them walk the damn thing almost sideways half the time, but it's an off-kilter journey that mirrors the protagonist getting her own footing. As we see her grow, almost through constant impulse, we chuckle as some of the ideals and constructs that we can see in place within our own world, even though she is spatially of a completely different time and place. Ultimately, this film deserves any and all admiration that it has coming to it.
