“Cheese to meet you”
Yorgos Lanthimos’ newest film, ‘Poor Things’ had its premiere in Venice last night, and it truly turned out to be one of the festival’s highlights so far.
The Film revolves around the curious Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) who was brought to life by London’s brilliant scientist Godwin ‘God’ Baxter (Willem Dafoe). He took her in and offered her a home. Explained the world to her and became a parental figure. At the same time, he is keeping her past and her origin a secret. When his student Max McCandless (Ramy Youssef) develops feelings for Bella and agrees to marry her, her adventurous and curious mind takes her to discover parts of the world with Lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) instead.
The screenplay was written by Tony McNamara, who already worked alongside Lanthimos for ‘The Favourite’. ‘Poor Things’ is funny, intelligent and offers a truly empowering female character who challenges the patriarchic structures of our world.
Everything down to the Production is a masterclass in filmmaking. ‘Poor Things’ offers gorgeous visuals, making this feel like a novel you just cannot put down. The runtime of over 2 hours is barely noticeable.
The film can be utterly eerie and, in many ways, – without saying too much – also very disturbing (which shouldn’t be a surprise for those of you who are familiar with Lanthimos filmography). Nonetheless, it manages to discover emotions, thoughts and processes that make us all human and thematizes growing up and reflecting our world in a very fascinating and original way.
The cast is astounding. Emma Stones is already a talented actress, but this is truly one of the best performances she has given so far. Bella Baxter is adorable and her character development is fascinating to experience.
Noticeable is that through the naïve eyes of Bella, we experience an almost Barbie-esque feeling. In many ways it reminded me of Gerwig’s film. Stones’ character asks the right questions, no one else would dare to ask and never accepts things that do not feel right to her. While power-driven men are brought to the edge of sanity, Bella outgrows naivety and becomes a remarkable and self-confident person. Perhaps one of my favorite Female Characters in a long time.
“Poor Things” is a film that should be seen on a big screen. Although it sadly may take some more time until its release due to the current SAG and WGA-strike.