Yorgos lanthimos strikes again!

This time around, he’s taking back the conformity of society. Poor Things is a hoshposh of sexual liberation, feminism, and corporate control. Bella Baxter is reanimated as a baby adult woman and wants to set out on the world. She is trapped inside God’s (Willem Dafoe) house and is willing to learn more about her sexuality. Once she is free from the house, she teams up with Duncan (Mark Ruffalo), a womanizer who is toxic as fuck. And even before she meets Duncan, Max (Ramy Yousef) is tasked to study Bella’s change in behavior. All of these casts of characters represent a moral and unethical manifestation of “polite society”.

What should be the standard of a “polite society”? Should it be about staying on track with societal expectations? Or should you follow your own path? Bella Baxter is real time discovers how to be free as a human being and as a woman whose sexuality is thrown on a pedestal. Until, it’s not. Because, she starts to understand how her body is being taken advantage of by sick men in this world. Furthermore, the deconstruction of what is socially acceptable in a modernist world is turned upside down by Yorgo’s crazy sense of humor. It’s a mouthful of colorful situations, liberating perspectives, and wacked out characters. This is hands down Yorgo’s best film to date and quite frankly, Emma Stone’s best performance on screen. 

Yes, it’s quite a bold opinion. But to act like a baby on screen for most of 2 hrs is quite astonishing and beautifully absurd. The rest of the cast is incredible. Ramy Yousef has a lot to chew on, Mark Ruffalo is perfect as the annoying toxic man, and Willem Dafoe is tender and poignant. Jerrod Carmichael, Katheryn Hunter, and Christopher Abott also play characters that try to teach Bella how to live in such a fucked up world. Each give their opinion on capitalism or the idea of the world (government or whatever) controlling human rights.

Again if you are not into Yorgo’s world, this won’t penetrate his mind. But, it’s an expansion of it and he’s one of those directors that doesn’t really give a fuck. There’s countless of sex scenes in this and there will be discussions to be had about it. I personally think sex in media can be powerful and can be portrayed in a liberating manner. In which this film does that in full effect. In the end, im just stunned by how we got here in 2023. 

A film about a woman who has a baby brain and is trying to become a freeing woman. What an absurd concept. But here we are. It’s fucking incredible. Stop complaining about how cinema is all blockbusters and superhero movies. Seek this out and open a great conversation on its themes. That’s the beauty of cinema folks!