By: Lucy Panicacci

News Editor

Bizarre best describes the new movie Poor Things. The film unsettled me from the first scene to the last. Director Yorgos Lanthimos tells the fantastical story of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), who Dr. Godwin Baxter (William Dafoe) brings back to life after she commits suicide. However, in reviving Bella, mad scientist Dr. Godwin conducts an unorthodox scientific experiment: he swaps Bella’s brain with the brain of her unborn baby, creating a fully developed woman with the psychological development of a fetus.  

Bella has the capabilities of an adult, but the primitive impulses of a child. She chases only pleasure for herself and acts selfishly, ignoring all societal barriers and the emotions of others. She spits out her food, throws aggressive tantrums, attempts to punch a loud baby, and gorges herself with sugary treats until she throws up. While Bella’s brain is undeveloped, numerous men fall completely in love with her. Dr. Godwin’s assistant, Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef), confesses his desire to marry her when she can barely walk, eat, or form complete sentences. Then, the man who comes to approve their marriage license, Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), becomes enamored with Bella at first sight, asking her to come run away with him. Throughout, men are obsessed with the childlike personality of Bella, leaving me with a sour feeling.

Bella’s complete lack of knowledge of the world and societal expectations develops into a double-edged sword. She is utterly naive, allowing her to form an optimistic viewpoint of the world, but also making an easy target for exploitation. For instance, after witnessing poor people suffering from starvation, Bella steals all of Duncan’s money, but naively trusts ship crew members to give it to the poor. She also has no sense of shame or embarrassment, empowering her to speak the plain truth, but this also results in her viewing prostituting herself as a light-hearted, enjoyable job. 

Aside from the unsettling plot, Poor Things is cinematically beautiful. The time setting of the movie is purposefully unclear, mixing the future and the past. The cities of Paris, London, and Lisbon are complete with Victorian architecture. The women wear eccentric nineteenth-century gowns full of ruffles and puffy sleeves. At the same time, flying cable trolleys and boats constructed with castle-like structures on top transport Bella around, and the skylines look like aurora lights in all different color schemes. The mysterious setting and the common use of the cinematic fisheye lens solidifies the weird nature of Poor Things. 

Bottom line, Poor Things is a deeply uncomfortable movie. The initial scenes of the film put me through a whirlwind of confusion and disgust. Within the first few minutes of the movie, Bella jumps off a bridge, erratically plays keys at a piano, and happily squishes the eyeballs’ of a cadaver into a pulp. As I watched the abundance of unexpected sexual content and Bella’s out-of-this-world behavior, I often asked myself, “Am I supposed to be seeing this?” For these reasons, I can only advise that you watch Poor Things by yourself and at your own risk.