Right from the start, every element of Poor Things is designed to be off-kilter, telling the audience not to expect an ordinary film experience. Emma Stone gives an admirably committed and enthusiastic performance as Bella Baxter, brought back from the dead by a strange medical scientist and who - initially trapped in a full-grown adult body - we see develop rapidly from an infant-like state (played by Stone with childish abandon) through to her sexual awakening, and the arrival of a visiting lawyer (a delightfully caddish Mark Ruffalo) who takes her away to discover the outside world. Costume and design work are indeed excellent, and Lanthimos is a director with a very singular vision, but for all of the film's cinematic stylisation, its messaging feels confusing (all men are controlling narcissists and women can only rely on each other, yet the female characters themselves are hardly presented in a flattering way here), and its deliberate quirkiness and need to shock is quite relentless over its long running time. Perhaps the film's boldness makes it one to admire rather than being a film that is entertaining, profound or moving.
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