POOR THINGS (2023): A New Favorite
Well, the 2024 Oscar nominations were announced this morning with Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon predictably leading the pack with 13 and 10 nominations respectively. And nestled right in between the two with 11 nods is the new film from Director Yorgos Lanthimos: Poor Things. A movie that is so bold, fresh, inventive, hilarious and straight up weird that it’s truly remarkable to see it receive such mainstream acclaim.
As a huge fan of his previous film The Favourite, I excitedly went into Poor Things with pretty high expectations. And from the moment that haunting score kicked in over the very first stunningly gorgeous shot, a huge grin took over my face. I won’t be getting into the plot here as the entire thing takes many left turns, unfolding with surprises in almost every scene but I do have to give a couple of quick shoutouts to the production design and one performance in particular.
The sound and photography are beyond top notch jumping between black and white scenes and gorgeous otherworldly sequences filled with deep purples, blues, oranges ,and reds. And I just cannot say enough about that score, this movie truly is a remarkable audio/visual treat. Of course Emma Stone knocks it out of the park, there’s no real surprise there (get ready for a million Bella Baxters this Halloween). But for me Ruffalo is the MVP, somehow creating a performance that is super gross yet also charismatic and hilarious. I hated him at first then couldn’t get enough of his ridiculous speaking affectation after a while. And his exasperation with Bella was highly entertaining. It’s so great to see his arc from over the top cockiness to downright pathetic desperation. My partner and I have found ourselves quoting him quite often:
“WHOREZZZ.”
I think there’s definitely a Tim Burton comparison to be discussed as well as it felt like the kind of movie he may have been making in an alternate timeline had he y’know, matured as an artist and not completely sold his soul. What a world that could be. I also personally got some serious David Lynch vibes too, I bet he’ll love it.
It’s always so refreshing to watch a movie and have no idea where it’s going. It adds a sense of immediacy and danger especially once some genuine affection and concern for your characters has been achieved. I found myself genuinely worried for Bella at many moments throughout the entire runtime and that the story concludes *spoilers* on a happy note *end spoilers* made the entire experience that much more satisfying.
I really dug Poor Things and it continues to grow on me the more I turn it around in my head. Pretty sure this one is gonna age extremely well, some kind of modern classic.
