J. Shruti
Poor Things is a tweaked Frankenstein film with a feminist agenda, set in the steampunk Victorian era where our heroine, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), never wears a corset
Based on Alasdair Gray’s Scottish novel, with the screenplay written by Tony McNamara, the film pursues a key switch of recounting things from Bella’s perspective, rather than the men who come across her person.
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Lead role, She is a curious mix of unhinged and controlled. She never lets the infancy of the character become a caricature, nor does she texture her speech with that day-to-day ease of communication when she matures.
Through the length of the film, Bella’s richer relationships are only with men, and her evolving has to do with responding to their fantasies. The film’s initial concept starts thinning after a certain point.
It is refreshing to see Bella hop from one destination to another and find herself capable of engaging with sophisticated ideas, and her libidinal needs, but there is something very off about the sex here. There is no period blood in this film. Ever.
Even at its weakest, Poor Things is a riot. Bella’s sincerity, contrasted with coded misogyny around her, makes up for a gratifying concoction, and this is arguably Lanthimos’ best film till date.