If Tim Burton had directed Barbie (2023), portions of it might have looked like Poor Things. Try to imagine Edward Scissorhands (1990) but filmed as an exaggerated Greek Tragedy. Director Yorgos Lanthimos (a Greek himself) has courageously woven human discord and emotion into a complicated and curious tangle of horrific comedic threads. It's difficult not to find yourself staring at the screen. Did I just see that? Did I just hear that? Yes, you certainly did.
If graphic frontal nudity, a plethora of heated sexual encounters, and cold corpses being dispassionately dissected bother you, then pass on this film because there's a lot of it. On the other hand, Poor Things may be the most didactic and entertaining film in decades. Nearly every scene is strikingly bizarre, with performances and dialogue to match. Indeed, there are certain scenes (in vivid black and white) that recall director Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). Poor Things is very surreal. But more often than not, it is also awkwardly and uncomfortably real. And that's the real magic here - the unreal becoming very real, like a child, discovering for the first time, that our Earth is truly not flat.
Emma Stone (Bella Baxter), Mark Ruffalo (Duncan), and Willem Dafoe (Dr. Godwin Baxter) shine brightly as intensely conflicted characters you like to watch, but secretly pray to never have to meet in person. Yet, their unique odyssey of connections and interactions is quite astonishing and fascinating.
No spoilers here as usual, but it should be no surprise to anyone that the incredible performances of the cast include an Oscar winner (Emma Stone), and two Oscar nominees (Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo).
If graphic frontal nudity, a plethora of heated sexual encounters, and cold corpses being dispassionately dissected bother you, then pass on this film because there's a lot of it. On the other hand, Poor Things may be the most didactic and entertaining film in decades. Nearly every scene is strikingly bizarre, with performances and dialogue to match. Indeed, there are certain scenes (in vivid black and white) that recall director Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). Poor Things is very surreal. But more often than not, it is also awkwardly and uncomfortably real. And that's the real magic here - the unreal becoming very real, like a child, discovering for the first time, that our Earth is truly not flat.
Emma Stone (Bella Baxter), Mark Ruffalo (Duncan), and Willem Dafoe (Dr. Godwin Baxter) shine brightly as intensely conflicted characters you like to watch, but secretly pray to never have to meet in person. Yet, their unique odyssey of connections and interactions is quite astonishing and fascinating.
No spoilers here as usual, but it should be no surprise to anyone that the incredible performances of the cast include an Oscar winner (Emma Stone), and two Oscar nominees (Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo).
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