Thomas’s review published on Letterboxd:
“Poor Things” truly gave me everything I wanted from a surreal steampunk fairytale directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. It´s bizarre, funny, horny, satirical, imaginative, audacious, and exhilarating. A one-of-a-kind Frankenstein fish out of water coming of age tale presented in the quirky, off-kilter Lanthimos fashion. We are offered a hilarious as well as insightful view on society from the perspective of a basically “newborn” adult woman with a blank slate mindset liberated from social conventions. It´s a story of self-discovery, sexual liberation, identity, individuality, power, freedom, discovering the rules of society, living by your own rules, and the liberating power of lack of shame. And on the way, the film also makes fun of men´s insecure reactions to a woman gaining agency. It´s tragic and funny, sexy and repulsive, and clever and silly….in other words, it´s a Yorgos Lanthimos film.
“Poor Things” is the Greek auteur´s most stylistically ambitious, experimental, and dazzling film so far. The gorgeous, unconventional cinematography, production design, and costumes combined with the banger score make the movie an audiovisually captivating experience, and the change of settings, each of them strangely delightful and otherworldly, help make the long runtime feel breezy.
Yet the most exciting aspect of the film are the performances. Willem Dafoe is the king of eccentric roles, Mark Ruffalo has never been funnier, and the supporting actors in smaller roles kill it as well (I think I embarrassed myself, when I loudly gasped “HANNA SCHYGULLA!!!” in the theater) but there is no doubt that the success of the entire movie rests on Emma Stone´s joyous, hilarious, fearless, and mesmerizing oddball lead performance. Emma Stone is simply astonishing. You can argue if it´s the best female lead performance of the year (Lily Gladstone and Sandra Hüller are strong competition) but it´s without a doubt the most entertaining one…..as well as the most physical. Yet you can´t just reduce Stone´s performance to being quirky and uninhibited. Bella´s character progression, her slow yet consistent change in speech pattern and overall demeanor is a masterclass in character work (also reflected by the change in costumes) and the result of the collaboration between a writer, director, and actress at the top of their game. Also, I simply can´t get enough of worldclass actors delivering Lanthimos´ deadpan, absurd dialogue.
Knowing Lanthimos, I expected the absurdity, audacity, sharp commentary, and visual spectacle but I didn´t expect the warmth of the film. The positive outlook of Bella, who triumphs in the end instead of being broken or defeated, adds a disarming, endearing charm to the Lanthimos formular. Some Lanthimos purists (aka the hardcore “Dogtooth” fans) might lament that as the Hollywoodification of their favorite auteur but in my opinion, that´s an overreaction. The film still has more than enough bite.
Apparently, there is a discussion if the “feminist commentary” of the film is deep or shallow. I won´t weigh in on that topic. What I can say is that I found “Poor Things” immensely engrossing, funny, and uplifting and above all, highly original. Cinema like this should be savored and celebrated.
I wonder if Yorgos Lanthimos has ever seen Frank Henenlotter´s “Frankenhooker”.
