Yorgos, you mad genius, what an achievement. This was my most anticipated film of the year, I think. It’s been five long years since The Favourite and this premise with this cast was can’t miss but I was still completely taken by surprise. 

The film is a look at the types of men in the world and how they attempt to categorize and confine women. All told through the eyes of our female Frankenstein’s creature.  She begins as an infant in an adult body. Her experiences inform her growth and the manipulation of the men in her life craft rebellion and independence. As she becomes more independent and mature the men react very poorly and we get acute insight into a woman’s life experience. 

The film is so artistically shot and designed. Lanthimos’ choice to shoot on sets creates the most perfect artifice and heightens this world. The setting is basically steampunk Victorian age but not actually steampunk. It’s a good use of the idea without taking on the tropes and baggage. The cinematography is amazing. Same DP as The Favourite but it goes next level. I’ve always loved the look of fisheye lenses but they were always used for comedy and moments. The Favourite really made me fall in love with the possibilities of using fisheye lenses and Poor Things seems to achieve the ideal. Gorgeous but disorienting, bizarre yet enlightened, expansive yet intimate. 

The costumes and set designs are so mesmerizing. I thought Barbie had those aspects in the bag this year but Yorgos proves again that he’s unfuckwithable. Emma Stone deserves her second Oscar for this. If she won people wouldn’t be upset like when she won for La La Land. This performance is undeniably amazing. The uphill climb is that it isn’t filled with big bombastic moments of emotion, no “Oscar scenes” if you will. But her performance is so carefully and meticulously crafted that no one I’ve seen this year can touch her. It’s all about movement. Her story is told in her movement. It’s subtle and understated but if you get in on it and observe how it changes over the film there’s a whole story told there that interweaves with the narrative of the film and opens it up even further. 

This is also a hilarious fucking film. It’s so so deeply and constantly funny. I can’t believe Mark Ruffalo’s turn here. He’s so genuinely funny and the fact that his character is awful makes it even better. Emma Stone is such a great comedienne and it’s so natural with this character. She’s riotous. Her dancing also makes an appearance as Yorgos bests the dancing sequence in The Favourite with something so electric and joyous. I didn’t expect it but I welcomed it with open arms. 

I was hooked from the minute go. I feel like I could write or talk about this movie for hours. There’s so much here. It’s absolutely an art film but it’s also so immensely entertaining and fun that I think it has a wider appeal than his previous work. It’s not as mass appeal as The Favourite but it’s more entertaining and more silly and more fun so that should bridge that gap. I can’t wait for this to hit video. I already know the shot I want as a profile image or something somewhere or just to stare at. Oh my god the color! The use of color!! Just….ahhhhh, so good. 

It’s a thoughtful film and it hits on so many things. I think it’s Yorgos’ best film yet. I love how frank he is. There’s so much sex, nudity, violence, gore, viscera…but none of it is sensationalized. None of it depicted as good or evil. It is life and he looks with total impartiality. It’s a relief in a way. A breath of fresh air. So unique in our world. And it enhances this film because it helps force the way we look at the world and the way people are. 

There’s also surprise Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbot and they’re both great. 

See, there I go. Just remembering bits and pieces and going down those threads. I’ll stop here. 

I loved loved loved this movie. It’s everything I wanted it to be and nothing I thought it would be.