POOR THINGS (2023 (film review by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)

[Philip De Parto]

The following review is reprinted with permission from

THE MT VOID
02/16/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 33, Whole Number 2315

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POOR THINGS (2023  (film review by Mark R. Leeper and
Evelyn C. Leeper)

POOR THINGS is based on the concepts behind
Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN, but it totally separate from it.  
(There also seems to be a touch of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU in the
menagerie we see.)

POOR THINGS takes the same cinematographic approach as OPPENHEIMER:
film the past in color and the present (ay least in the early
London environs) in black and white, although Bella's adventures
are in color (perhaps because these are less connected to our
reality).  There is also heavy use of fisheye lenses and other
distorting effects.

Bella (Emma Stone) has no filters, and no sense of social
proprieties, so her dialogue is both literal and shocking.  Credit
should go to writer Tony McNamara and to Alasdair Gray who wrote
the original novel.  The presence of the latter probably explains
at least some of the surrealism, although given that director
Yorgos Lanthimos also directed THE LOBSTER, he certainly
contributed his share.  (There's even what may be a Monty Python
homage.)  Her creator, Godwin Baxter (a.k.a. God) (Willem Dafoe) is
far more complicated than Shelley's Victor Frankenstein, and his
assistant, Mark McCardles (Ramyi Youssef), has much more substance
than that role usually has in films.  There is also Duncan
Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), who has his own best laid plans that,
well, go awry; Harry (Jerrod Carmichael), a philosopher; and Madame
Swiney (Kathryn Hunter).

Bella has many guides through her learning experiences: Baxter,
McCandles, Wedderburn, ...  And each has a specific ambit, so the
chapters represent not just locations, but states of mind.  Many
social and even philosophical concepts are raised and considered,
and one can even see connections to current discussions of
artificial intelligence.  [-ecl]

Highly recommended.

(This film comes from some tentacle of the Disney Corporation, so
the full frontal nudity of both sexes, and relatively explicit sex
scenes, may surprise viewers, so be warned.)

Released theatrically 8 December 2023.  Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4),
or 7/10.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14230458/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/poor_things>