The director would prefer not to get into “an analytic conversation” about his Oscar-nominated film.
Adapted from the 1992 novel by Alisdair Gray, Poor Things tells the story of Bella Baxter (Stone), a woman created by implanting a fetus’ brain into the body of her dead mother. As Bella learns and grows, she encounters colorful characters like the fop Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) and medical student Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) on her journey to self-knowledge.
“I don’t really like going into an analytic conversation about what it means, what the themes are, what the characters are,” the filmmaker said. “I feel confident about the script. So that means it conveys a lot of things, I think, to intelligent people. So there’s no need to discuss it further.”
He added, “I actually think it’s dangerous to go too much into those conversations because things start becoming a little too one-dimensional. Like there’s only this aspect of this film, and this is what we’re thinking this is, what we’re trying to do. I try to make films more open than that.”
Bella’s story is conveyed visually rather than ideologically. Though obviously infused with elements of science fiction and steampunk, Poor Things is set in Victorian London (with excursions to Lisbon, Alexandria, and Paris), and Bella’s free spirit defies the strict social expectations of that period.
Her costumes, too, reflect Bella’s independence. Many of her outfits are a mix of the various elements of Victorian women’s clothing, because “she wouldn’t understand the logic of it, it would seem pointless,” costume designer Holly Waddington also told EW.
