filmplanet_reviews

The coming-of-age tale of "Poor Things" tells the story of Bella Baxter; a Frankenstein-inspired heroine with a "blank" mind, free of societal nurture and repression. She achieves female emancipation through a road of sexual liberation, penetrating observation of life, constant questioning of the status quo and rapid progression. Her instinctive actions create a feminine force that breaks and deconstructs the social norms and conventions of patriarchy in an awfully funny and ironic way, while rising against the latter's typical male representatives.

The film is visually stynning. Yorgos Lanthimos employs amazing steampunk sets/costumes/details/practical effects that are a testament to the director's craftsmanship in word-building. They all make for a stimulating and engrossing experience, aided by a minimalist music score that grows simultaneously with Bella's brain! Moreover, the movie explores various social and political themes in thought-provoking ways.

All in all, "Poor Things", based on the 1992 novel of the same title by Alasdair Gray, is a film that achieves true cinematic masterpiece status thanks to Lanthimos' unique weird style, paired with an ambitious vision that leads him to a major depart from his previous claustrophobic, bleak, sterilized and ultimatelly dark and robotic/lifeless environments, for the sake of a maximalist work of art. A feminist fable and at the same time a black comedy for the ages!