Poor Things
Playing God in this Yorgos Lanthimos original film, Willem Dafoe plays s a cross between Dr. Frankenstein and the mad scientist’s monster.
His crudely stitched facial scars (kudos to make up artists) belie a childhood of cruel experimentation.
Decades later, the benign Godwin Baxter continues his father’s research, reanimating a fully grown woman with the brain of an infant, whom he christens Bella (a fearless Emma Stone in career-best performance).
This tragicomic premise sets up a boldly expressionistic provocation from absurdist social critic Lanthimos (“The Favourite”), in a satire of gender roles that might have been inspired by “Pygmalion,“ “Lolita,” and Bunuel.
While the fantasy comedy Barbie pokes fun at the patriarchy, born-again Bella upends it in an inventive film that cannot be compared to any other–past r present.
Share this:
