Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe and Ramy Youssef star in this erotic and surrealist Frankenstein fable from The Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos.
Lanthimos, who wowed at the Venice Film Fest five years ago with The Favourite, was warmly welcomed with his new film Poor Things.
The Venice crowd got to their feet Friday night after the world premiere of the film, which stars Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe and Ramy Youssef, giving a raucous, 10-minute standing ovation.
Many in the audience were shouting “Yorgos! Yorgos!” at the director.
The film’s actors were unable to attend due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Poor Things is a studio title and will be released by Disney’s Searchlight.)
The rapturous reception here could mark the film for greater things, similar to the arc followed by Lanthimos’ The Favourite, which debuted on the Lido in 2018, winning two awards — the best actress Volpi Cup for star Olivia Coleman and a special jury prize for Lanthimos — and springboarding into pole position for that year’s awards season.
There is already major awards buzz for Lanthimos’ latest, not least for Stone, who has already won the Best Actress Oscar for La La Land.
Stone gives a fearless and hilarious performance as Bella Baxter, a young woman who attempts suicide only to be re-animated, Frankenstein-like, by a clearly unhinged surgeon and scientist, played by Dafoe, another role with awards potential. Stone also produced Poor Things, alongside Lanthimos.
Ruffalo, playing caddish English gentleman with debauchery on his mind who entices Bella to follow him on a sex-filled surrealistic journey of self-discovery, was a favorite among the press who screened the film earlier today.
Poor Things is set for a U.S. release from Searchlight on December 8.
