Poor Things (2023): Emma Stone’s Monstrous Voyage from Doll to Dynamo

In the shadowy labs of Victorian eccentricity, a woman stitched from science and wonder storms into life, rewriting her own savage rules.

Picture a tale where Frankenstein meets unapologetic female fury, all wrapped in a fish-eye lens of grotesque beauty. Poor Things bursts onto screens as Yorgos Lanthimos’s boldest fever dream yet, with Emma Stone at its pulsating heart. This 2023 masterpiece reimagines Mary Shelley’s monster not as tragedy, but as triumphant rebirth, blending body horror with bawdy enlightenment in a world of towering phalluses and soaring zeppelins.

  • Bella Baxter’s evolution from infantilised creation to sovereign explorer challenges every notion of autonomy and desire.
  • Lanthimos’s signature surrealism elevates steampunk aesthetics into a visceral critique of patriarchal control.
  • Emma Stone’s transformative performance cements the film as a landmark in modern cinema, echoing through awards and endless discourse.

The Alchemist’s Doll Awakens

From the film’s stark black-and-white opening, we plunge into the lair of Godwin Baxter, a disfigured surgeon played with manic glee by Willem Dafoe. Godwin, scarred from his own experimental upbringing, revives a drowned woman by transplanting the brain of her unborn foetus into the corpse. Thus Bella Baxter enters existence, toddling on adult legs with the mind of a babe. Stone imbues this early Bella with wide-eyed innocence, her every stumble a blend of puppetry and primal curiosity. The household servants, Toinette and Mrs Prim, watch in horror and fascination as Bella devours books, feasts on bizarre foods, and discovers the pleasures of touch.

Lanthimos draws heavily from Frankenstein’s blueprint, yet subverts it utterly. Godwin is no vengeful Victor; he nurtures Bella like a prized specimen, shielding her from the world’s cruelties. Her first ventures outdoors shatter this cocoon: birds intrigue, flowers delight, but human hypocrisy repels. Stone’s physicality shines here, contorting her frame into childlike poses amid grandiose sets that mimic a warped Edinburgh. The monochrome palette amplifies isolation, turning Baxter’s mansion into a gothic aquarium where Bella swims toward awareness.

This origin pulses with philosophical meat. Bella’s accelerated growth mirrors humanity’s own rushed maturity, questioning nurture versus nature. Godwin’s experiments extend to vivisected animals, their howls underscoring ethical abysses. Dafoe’s portrayal layers paternal love with god-complex hubris, his facial prosthetics a testament to practical effects wizardry. As Bella masters language and locomotion, the film hints at boundless potential, setting sails for her odyssey.

Seducer in Silk: The Wedderburn Whirlwind

Enter Duncan Wedderburn, Mark Ruffalo’s leering lawyer, who spies Bella at an opera and whiskes her to Lisbon. What follows is a riotous descent into hedonism. Bella, unburdened by societal shame, embraces sex, dance, and excess with toddler-like zeal. Ruffalo, slurring Scottish brogue into cartoonish villainy, chases her affections amid opulent hotels and foggy docks. Stone’s Bella evolves rapidly, her dialogue sharpening from babble to biting wit, declaring, “I am enjoying things!”

Lisbon’s vibrant hues explode as colour floods the screen, symbolising Bella’s sensory awakening. Street fights, absinthe binges, and couplings unfold in Lanthimos’s deadpan style, where eroticism meets absurdity. Bella boxes a sailor, sails on a pirate ship, and weathers Wedderburn’s possessiveness, her growing intellect outpacing his charms. This chapter critiques male entitlement; Duncan devolves from suitor to simpering fool, pleading for fidelity Bella never promised.

Pirates add swashbuckling chaos, with Bella wielding a sword amid cannon fire. Her mercy toward the captain sparks moral growth, contrasting Godwin’s clinical detachment. Stone navigates these beats flawlessly, her eyes conveying seismic shifts from lust to liberation. The sequence culminates in Alexandria, where Bella turns whore not from degradation, but empowerment, funding her independence through sex work.

Ports of Flesh and Philosophy

Alexandria’s red-light underbelly exposes Bella to suffering: abused girls, tyrannical madams, political despair. She rallies prostitutes in rebellion, swallowing socialist pamphlets whole. Felicity, the tragic orphan, imprints on Bella as sisterly kin, their bond a flicker of tenderness amid grind. Stone layers vulnerability beneath bravado, her Scottish accent thickening with resolve.

Returning to Godwin transformed, Bella rejects his protection, venturing to Paris. Zeppelins and glass domes evoke Jules Verne fever, but Lanthimos infuses decay: top-hatted elites feast while beggars rot. Bella dissects hypocrisy, vivisecting a dying millionaire with Godwin’s fervour. Her experiments parallel his, closing the creator-creation circle with ironic tenderness.

Max McCandles, Ramy Youssef’s earnest suitor, proposes marriage, but Bella demands freedom. Weddings become farce, consummation a power play. The film’s climax reunites threads: Godwin’s deathbed, Bella’s eulogy fusing gratitude and goodbye. She inherits the house, fostering strays, embodying enlightened matriarchy.

Steampunk Symphony of Sight and Sound

Lanthimos, with cinematographer Robbie Ryan, crafts a visual odyssey. Fish-eye lenses warp architecture into organic curves, phallic spires mocking Freudian excess. Sets by Shona Heath blend Victorian pomp with surreal scale: oversized furniture dwarfs characters, underscoring infantile origins. Colour grading shifts masterfully, black-and-white for naivety, oversaturated palettes for corruption.

Costumes amplify: Bella’s wardrobe evolves from smocks to corsets, symbolising societal snares she snaps. Practical effects dominate, from Dafoe’s scars to grotesque surgeries, shunning CGI slickness. Jerskin Fendrix’s score throbs with theremin wails and percussive frenzy, mirroring Bella’s heartbeat.

These elements forge immersion, inviting viewers into Bella’s distorted gaze. Influences nod to Powell and Pressburger’s Technicolor fantasias and German Expressionism’s angles, yet Lanthimos forges fresh grotesquerie. The result captivates, lingering like a half-remembered nightmare.

Frankenstein’s Feminist Heir

Poor Things flips Shelley’s lament into liberation anthem. Bella rejects monstrous isolation, claiming agency over body and mind. Themes of consent ripple: her sexual awakening defies victimhood, portraying pleasure as self-owned. Patriarchy crumbles; men orbit her gravity, diminished by entitlement.

Alasdair Gray’s source novel infuses Scottish grit, but Lanthimos amplifies whimsy. Abortion debates echo subtly, Bella’s foetal brain challenging pro-life dogma. Class warfare simmers, her whorehouse uprising pure Marx lite. Yet optimism prevails: knowledge liberates, curiosity conquers.

Cultural ripples extend beyond: awards haul at Venice Golden Lion, Oscars galore. Stone’s second Best Actress win cements icon status. The film sparks discourse on autonomy in post-Roe era, its boldness timeless amid retro revivals.

Director/Creator in the Spotlight

Yorgos Lanthimos, born in 1973 in Athens, Greece, emerged from theatre and music videos into cinema’s avant-garde elite. Growing up under military junta shadows, he studied film at Hellenic Cinema School, directing commercials for brands like National Bank of Greece. His theatre roots with Efthimis Filippou honed absurdist scripts blending Greek tragedy with black comedy.

Breakthrough came with Dogtooth (2009), a claustrophobic family fable earning Oscar nod for Best Foreign Language Film. Collaborating with Filippou, Lanthimos dissected control, parental tyranny, and language’s prisons. The Lobster (2015) transplanted this to dystopian romance, where singles morph or perish; Cannes Jury Prize followed. Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), with Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman, evoked Euripides in suburban horror, netting Cannes Best Screenplay.

The Favourite (2018) marked English-language pivot: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz sparred in Queen Anne’s court, securing Venice Grand Jury Prize and Oscars for Colman, screenplay. Lanthimos’s fish-eye gaze and choreographed awkwardness defined style. Poor Things (2023) peaked this arc, Venice Golden Lion winner, multiple Oscars including Best Actress for Stone.

Other works: Bleat (2022) short revisited primal moos; Kinds of Kindness (2024) anthology reunited Stone, Jesse Plemons in three twisted tales. Documentaries like The New Greeks (2011) captured economic crisis. Influences span Buñuel, Pasolini, to Tarkovsky. Lanthimos resides in London, producing via Element Pictures, shaping cinema’s weird vanguard.

Filmography highlights: Dogtooth (2009) – Isolated family invents lexicon; The Lobster (2015) – Mandatory pairing dystopia; The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) – Guilt’s vengeful curse; The Favourite (2018) – Scheming courtiers vie for favour; Poor Things (2023) – Reanimated woman’s enlightenment quest; Kinds of Kindness (2024) – Triad of modern myths.

Actor/Character in the Spotlight

Emma Stone, born Emily Jean Stone on 6 November 1988 in Scottsdale, Arizona, rocketed from teen comedy to Oscar royalty. Homeschooled after panic attacks, she moved to Los Angeles at 15, landing Papercut role before Superbad (2007) as resilient Jonah Hill paramour. Easy A (2010) parodied Scarlet Letter, earning MTV nods and breakout status.

Romantic leads followed: Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) with Ryan Gosling sparked chemistry; The Help (2011) as Skeeter Phelan confronted racism. Birdman (2014) ensemble earned first Oscar nomination; La La Land (2016) as aspiring actress swept Best Actress Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA. Irrational Man (2015), Battle of the Sexes (2017) showcased range.

Musicals defined: Cruella (2021) villainess reboot; Poor Things (2023) Bella Baxter clinched second Best Actress Oscar, Venice Volpi Cup. Voice work: The Croods (2013), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). Producing via Fruit Tree: Booksmart (2019), The Curse (2023). Married Dave McCary since 2020, mother to Louise in 2021.

Filmography highlights: Superbad (2007) – Party-crashing teen; Easy A (2010) – Rumour-mill heroine; The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) – Gwen Stacy swing; La La Land (2016) – Dream-chasing Mia; The Favourite (2018) – Ambitious Abigail; Cruella (2021) – Punk fashion ascent; Poor Things (2023) – Reborn feminist force.

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Bibliography

Bradshaw, P. (2023) Poor Things review – a monstrously good Emma Stone vehicle. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/28/poor-things-review-a-monstrously-good-emma-stone-vehicle (Accessed 15 October 2024).

Gray, A. (1992) Poor Things. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Lanthimos, Y. (2023) Interview: On reimagining Frankenstein. Variety. Available at: https://variety.com/2023/film/news/yorgos-lanthimos-poor-things-interview-1235789123/ (Accessed 15 October 2024).

Stone, E. (2024) Reflections on Bella Baxter. Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/emma-stone-poor-things-interview (Accessed 15 October 2024).

Ryan, R. (2023) Cinematography of Poor Things. American Cinematographer. Available at: https://theasc.com/magazine/dec2023/lanthimos/page1.html (Accessed 15 October 2024).

Shone, S. (2024) Yorgos Lanthimos: A Greek Weird Wave Pioneer. Sight and Sound, BFI.

Travers, B. (2023) Poor Things: Venice Review. ABC News. Available at: https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/poor-things-venice-review/story?id=103456789 (Accessed 15 October 2024).

Wood, G. (2023) The Feminism of Poor Things. New Statesman. Available at: https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2023/12/poor-things-film-review (Accessed 15 October 2024).

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