‘Poor Things’ movie review

I wanted to like this film.  Honestly, I did.  It stars one of my favorite actresses Emma Stone.  In my defense, I like art house films.  I don’t get easily offended by brash directors.  You can hit a nerve with me and I take it like a champ.  And then came along Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film ‘Poor Things.’  I’m no stranger to this director.  I liked his other works, ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ and ‘The Lobster.’  He’s an avant-garde filmmaker.  Without question, ‘Poor Things’ is the most audacious film of his career.  It simply didn’t work for me.  If you don’t mind being insulted, see it at your own risk.

‘Poor Things’ is a science fiction movie along the same vein as Frankenstein.  It goes beyond that classic horror tale with a raunchy twist.  It is supposed to be a satirical look at feminine self-discovery.  When we first meet Bella (Emma Stone), she has the mind of a child.  She is the experiment of Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) whose face looks like Boris Karloff in a patchwork of scars.  He has discovered the secret to bringing dead people back to life.  Bella acts like his daughter.  The original Bella committed suicide while pregnant.  Baxter was able to remove the brain of the unborn infant and implant it in the mother.  Are you following this so far?

Baxter recruits the help of a medical student, Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) who takes notes on Bella’s development while he falls in love with her.  She becomes somewhat independent and agrees to marry him under one condition.  She wants to see and experience the world.  She meets a cad Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) who plans to use her for sex and dump her in a foreign country.  Bella proves to be an insatiable sex partner in bed.  Duncan falls in love with her and becomes too needy.  She loses interest in him and leaves him in Paris.  Without any financial resources, she becomes a prostitute at a French brothel. I’m not making this stuff up.

You heard that right.  She becomes a prostitute and this is where the film lost me.  Her becoming a prostitute is supposed to represent her gaining female empowerment.  So the film is basically telling us that it is okay she is getting exploited sexually.  She’s getting paid for it and she is not depending on a man for financial support.  I don’t buy it.  Stone’s character is subjected to having sex with one lecherous man after another.  The sex scenes are very graphic.  ‘Poor Things’ is trying to be a celebration of women’s freedom.  Instead, it feels degrading that Bella has to resort to prostitution and risk contracting sexually transmitted diseases in the name of female empowerment.

I will say Emma Stone is captivating in the lead role.  I’m certain that she will garner an Oscar nod for her fearless performance.  My complaint with the director is having Bella become a prostitute to reach a state of female empowerment.  It does just the opposite.  She has no control over her body.  In fact, she is taking a risk of catching a sexual disease with every John.  Rotten Tomatoes is calling this film a masterpiece. I begged to differ.  ‘Poor Things’ is a distasteful film.  See it at your own risk.