Straight off the bat, I can honestly say that Emma Stone deserves an Oscar for her performance in “Poor Things“.

Here’s why:

Bella Baxter (played by star and producer Emma Stone) is brought back from the brink of death by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (played by Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (played by Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.

“Poor Things” is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who also directed another of my favourite movies called “The Favourite” – pun intended 🙂

It is based on the novel of the same name, written by the late Alasdair Gray.

Set in Victorian London, I can describe this movie as Wes Anderson meets Frankenstein. The first part of the film is in black and white, while the second half is in colour, which symbolizes the lead character, Bella Baxter’s awakening – sexually and intellectually.

Comical at times, but definitely not a comedy, the film weaves in Bella’s determination to be her own woman – because she knows nothing else other than being herself.

We see her growing through the stages of her life – a child in a woman’s body, with the associated child-like speech and grammar. As she travels the world with her lover, Wedderburn, she becomes more and more independent and intellectually superior, while Wedderburn grows more and more determined to control her freedom.

As Bella’s thirst for knowledge and intellectual stimulation grows, she begins to tire of Wedderburn, who wants nothing more than to control her.

The  cinematography is simply stunning. Many of the shots are “fisheye lense” shots, as if the viewer is looking into Bella’s unique view of the world, a peeping Tom of sorts.

Ultimately, “Poor Things” is a movie about Bella’s freedom, liberation and being true to who she is, while trying to rid this brilliant woman of the shackles that Victorian society tries to impose on her. But since she has grown up basically under lock and key and kept from the world, she is, in a way, blessed to be without society’s expectations of (Victorian) women.

“Poor Things” is currently on at Ster Kinekor cinemas nationwide.

View the trailer below: