Original caricature by Jeff York of Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, and Willem Dafoe in POOR THINGS (copyright 2023).
I thought Jennifer Lawrence’s full-frontal fight on the beach in NO HARD FEELINGS was outrageous. Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa in WONKA (opening December 15th) is pretty audacious too. But none of that craziness compares to the whole of Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film POOR THINGS which opens this weekend. The director’s feminist riff on Frankenstein is jaw-droppingly gonzo from the first frame to the last, easily the most outrageous film of the year. And for my money, the funniest.
POOR THINGS is even more outrageous because it is a period piece, taking place against the backdrop of Victorian high society, even though it pushes into fantasy and sci-fi as well. Its story concerns the evolution of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman brought back to life after her suicidal jump from a London bridge. She’s saved by physician Goodwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), a brilliant doctor who’s making a name for himself by performing experimental surgeries that cross both moral and scientific boundaries. Baxter’s specialty is blending species to become new creatures like a duck/dog. While they play amidst his lush mansion grounds, inside he concentrates on raising his new ‘daughter’ Bella, another of his “Frankensteined” creations.
How so, you wonder? Well, I’ll let you discover that for yourself, but suffice it to say she’s a young woman with the transplanted and undeveloped brain of someone far younger. Thus, Bella walks about the mansion, stiff-legged, jaw agape, and drooling, looking more like a ventriloquist’s dummy than a real person. Soon, this babe in the woods will start to learn more and more, discovering walking, talking, and dancing, not to mention the pleasures of food and drink. (She’s particularly fond of pastry.) Her progression from a veritable beast to a more refined beauty gives the narrative more than a touch of Pygmalion. (And of course, we all know what Bella means, right?)
As she develops into a comely young woman, and her brain matures, Bella itches to explore the world outside her gates. Baxter recruits Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef), a green medical student from his university to help him study her, but she’d rather study all that life has to offer. Soon enough, she’s running off to explore all the sights and sounds with a rich, playboy named Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo, vividly playing a foppish ne’er-do-well). He and Bella travel, fornicate, and wine and dine all over Europe.
Stone makes Bella’s progression uproarious at times, moving during other moments. And as her character matures, Bella becomes more and more of an intellectual as well as a feminist. She sees through the hypocrisy of the patriarchy and the silly norms of society. On an extended second act aboard a cruise ship, Bella welcomes conversation with the passengers aboard (Hanna Schygulla and Jerrod Carmichael), truly interested in others’ perspectives.
And yet, even though Bella starts to speak with a posh British accent, she remains outspokenly blunt. It’s here too where Lanthimos and screenwriter Tony McNamara, adapting the novel by Alasdair Gray, make this into more than just an outrageous character study or a pointed comedy of manners. They want Bella’s story to not only be experiential, but an intellectual journey as well.
It could stand next to BARBIE as a double bill of feminist black comedy. And like summer’s biggest hit, POOR THINGS disguises its often acidic commentary in extravagant, candy-colored art direction and costuming. Why, production designers Shona Heath and James Price, deserve an Oscar just for the ocean liner they’ve created here – it’s half Jules Verne/ half Yellow Submarine.
Still, even within all the craziness, the commentary on sexism, and the eye-popping visuals, a wide streak of humanity emerges. Stone’s Bella starts as a cartoonish oaf, but as it goes on she truly resembles Eliza Doolittle coming into her own. It’s great to see Dafoe underplay his warped doc, becoming more and more parental as the story progresses. Other supporting players make strong impressions too, particularly Kathryn Hunter as a slyly maternal brothel madame whom Bella encounters along her journey.
In a movie world too often strewn with remakes, reboots, and sequel upon inferior sequel, it’s a welcome sight this holiday season to find such a fresh and fiercely funny experience like this one at the Cineplex. Some of it may be incredibly off-putting or even garish, but underneath all of its lunacy beats an earnest heart. The various pieces and genres plied together here may also fit the Frankenstein motif but damn if it all doesn’t work exceedingly well together.
