Poor Things Review: Sex Surrealism, and Self-Discovery

As someone who ordinarily wouldn’t glean excitement from the viewing of strong sex scenes, particularly in the company of strangers and my Mother… “Poor Things” rendered me both blushing and contented. Juxtapositions were fluent throughout this movie, for both the plot and audience responses. It was a marvel to witness; a sensory delight, and for many reasons, my favourite movie of the year so far.

The movie’s main themes to me were curiosity and control. Through the journey of the protagonist, we, the audience, explore cities and ideological perspectives, heightened emotions and a whimsical, postmodern exploration of “human” experiences.

Like a child discovering their own agency, the lead in this movie, Bella Baxter, portrayed by actress Emma Stone, steps outside the confines of her residence, learning about the world through the “guidance”/motives of others, through her own whims, encountering the absurdities, joys and tragedies of living. The catalytic event is her discovery of self-pleasure and autonomy. Bella evolves quickly on screen from a “child” with impulses and desires that are reigned in by those who seek to guard and govern her, to an individual who does as she pleases and chooses to govern herself. Her decisions ultimately lead her to freedom and a life of her own making.

The location in which we first see characters in film is often reflective of their personality. The first scene that officially introduces us the audience to Bella Baxter; she’s banging notes on a piano with an inquisitive yet distant expression indicative of her babyish mind; even the name Bella Baxter suggests childlike qualities, like playfulness and curiosity. The 2-syllable first and last names and alliteration; Bella Baxter, characteristic of an infant in the developmental stage, repeating sounds. Her character represents a latent childishness that essentially drives the conventional narrative, yet experimental dramatic shape of the film.

The postmodern elements of this movie’s mise en scène, like the hyperrealist yet strikingly artistic production design, were a visual treat. At many points during the film, I felt like I was gazing at an expressionist and surrealist composition, which evidently Director Yorgos Lanthimos executed through the deployment of actual painted backdrops. The boldness and gestural use of the colour in this film added to the gaiety of the movie as a whole. Even the contrasting first act, which was in Black and White, was stunning. The textural elements in scenes, like the 19th-century style costumes, notably Bella’s exuberant puff sleeves, the gothic and eclectic interiors and curious scientific instruments. The camera perfectly captured the abundance of patterns and tones in the Black and White segments as well as the scenes in colour.

I particularly enjoyed the use of the 8mm fisheye lens, which brought both eeriness and humorous voyeurism. Overall, the use of the different lens types in this film really anchored the period look as well as the otherworldliness and its satire.

What made this movie so fulfilling and rich was every aspect of the cinematography, the themes and of course the comedy. The movie used black and blue comedy, intertextuality, improv, physical comedy and wordplay. Ample sex jokes and boundary-pushing of the taboos of “polite society”. Mark Ruffalo’s fantastic performance as the debaucherous solicitor, Duncan Wedderburn, provided plenty of clowning and slapstick-style comedy. The bouts of uninhibited laughter followed by stark moments of silence signalling discomfort in the cinema were equally as amusing as the on-screen action. The visuals and dialogue seemed to bounce from gag to gag, providing an extra layer of escapism. From barking roosters and a scientist burping bubbles to a steam-powered carriage with just the horse’s head attached, the imagery showcased was zany, which I loved.

The music was also very impactful; the salient motifs that accompanied the main character, Bella, from “infancy, through her tween and adult” years, were incredibly unique and unlike any music in a film I could reference. The instrumental soundtrack by musician Jerskin Fendrix contributed immensely to the depth and the emotional tonal range when combined with the visuals.

After viewing, I left the cinema feeling like there were so many things to absorb; a bottomless feast both to relish and dissect. The narrative characteristics of the film critique society by calling attention to its constructed nature. So the celebration of heterogeneity and self-reflexivity transgressed the conventional. In layman’s terms, this multilayered presentation was a refreshingly funny take on maturing as an individual in society.

Again, it was only really after the credits rolled that I was able to ponder what this movie communicated to me as a proposed feminist tale. As I said at the start, this was a feature packaged with strong sex scenes, which I’d ordinarily grimace at. Typically, the female flesh in film, whether Picturehouse or PornHub, is a cynical exploitation of the female body to increase predominantly male profits. Feminism argues that the exhibition of flesh can be an assertion of female self-confidence and sexual independence. These truths coalesce and have forced me to think deeply about the representation of gender and sex in “Poor Things”. It’s plain that the integration of voyeurism in this picture forces us, the audience, not simply to experience possible discomfort, but, through the male gaze, we self-identify, particularly as women, with often objectionable distortions of the female.

Bella Baxter is the agent of this tale; dramatic action unfolds, i.e. sexual liberation and enlightenment, and the male characters, archetypes of patriarchal men, despite their efforts, are ultimately more passive. However, even with Bella as the hero in this tale, can female viewers disregard or really escape the implications of a male gaze in cinema because the camera films the optical but also the libidinal POV, which is implicitly male?

In many ways, “Poor Things” did subvert classic cinema scopophilia because even the presentation of male nudity was “without male gaze” or fetishised. With ideological attitudes about feminism and female agency, I enjoyed the explored commentary on the topic, and though there is so much left unsaid in film… this one said a lot in 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Lastly, my only real gripe with the film was my unfamiliarity with some of the lexicon and language used. Certain scientific terminology went over my head, and the use of French at times left me feeling a tad alienated from the story. My favourite scene… when Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) howls and cries for Bella in Paris. He’s outside in the snow while Bella looks down at him from her room in the Brothel as he pulls out his hair, wretched. The scene to me was a direct reference to one of my favourite movie adaptations, “A Streetcar Named Desire” starring Marlon Brando, whose character Stanley, also in a state, shouts for his girl, Stella!

Formidable ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ;)

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