Poor Things

We must work. We must make money. But more than that Bella, we must experience everything. Not just the good, but degradation, horror, sadness. This makes us whole Bella, makes us people of substance. Not flighty, untouched children. Then we can know the world. And when we know the world, the world is ours. 2023 RANKED Yorgos Lathimos Films Ranked THE HOLY TRINITY Am i the only one that things that scene of harry talking about how society is evil is lars von tier talking and bella calling him a broke little boy is lathimos telling him "shut up stop being such a pain in the ass smile for christs sake". Anyways Poor Things is one of those movies that, when you just look at it, seems dark and so chaotic, but when you let it sit with you, it’s a brilliant and somehow calm and positive mix of humor, madness, and, of course, human reflection. It’s a beautiful trip that deserved every single award and much, much more. It’s a fresh view on the Frankenstein tale. Bella Baxter is one of the best-written characters ever. We see her grow up in the body of an adult. We get to watch her develop her identity and understanding of the world in real-time. The movie is about second chances, what it means to be "reborn," and how much agency and freedom a person can truly have in shaping their own life, and how dependent society is on shaping someone. We see Bella starting off as this literal baby. She doesn’t know anything about the world or society and the boundaries it has, and she spends the movie just pushing them all. She explores her body and her desires and her autonomy, something we will never be able to do without judgment. She’s like a human experiment, and in a way, this is a documentary, and we see her testing what it means to be free in every sense of the word, without the restrictions society usually puts on everyone, especially in that time period. That brings me to the major point of the movie: liberation. Bella's journey in here is not the basic finding out who she is, but finding out what she wants, what she doesn’t want, and how to take control of her own life while everyone is trying to do that for her. The story is messy, weird, and has a lot of sex, but, tbh, that whole shock thing really doesn’t affect me since I’ve been through 5 Lars von Trier movies, 2 Gaspar Noé ones, and 4 Lanthimos ones. At this point, I’m stone. Nothing's gonna affect me, but all that bizarreness is what makes it so real. The fucking vibes of this movie and the aesthetics are like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Recently, Lanthimos in this one really steps out of that minimalistic style he had in his other movies (The Lobster, Killing of a Sacred Deer) and went all out, making this such an artistic and surreal dream journey. Feels like a baby of Tim Burton and Wes Anderson, but way more dramatic. The sets are gigantic, strange, and feel like a dollhouse. The colors and shapes are all so exaggerated and made everything just feel the right amount of "off," and the fucking costumes were perfect, especially Bella's. They were all just so much, so dramatic, so colorful. Even Bella's clothes reflect her journey, starting with almost childlike dresses and evolving into bold, defiant fashion statements as she grows into herself. The movie’s whimsical dark tone also adds to all this unrealness. It’s such a playful movie with this big sense of danger throughout. It’s really just so fucking beautiful. My favorite segment was Lisbon for obvious reasons—MY FUCKING COUNTRY MENTIONED RsheAAAAAH HEROIS DO MAR CARALHOO 🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹. And when they started to play fado, Jesus, peak cinema, peak everything, fucking love Lisbon. Anyways, that sense of danger just immerses you in Bella’s world. You’re never quite sure what’s going to happen next, which keeps you on your toes. It’s a movie that doesn’t just want you to watch it—it wants you to feel it, to experience the world Bella is navigating. It’s weird, but it works to perfection. Goated stuff fr. Emma Stone fucking deserved that Oscar so much. She owned this role so hard. She, like Bella, is just fearless and went all in in her role to the point I believe she became Bella Baxter herself. She’s such a joyful person it’s hard to hate her. Even in some scenes where Bella is so bluntly unaware of social norms that it’s both hilarious and heartbreaking, Stone plays those moments with a kind of reckless joy that’s just so fucking cute. You can’t hate a person so positive and free, being so themselves. Bella's journey feels so authentic because Emma Stone is fucking fantastic, as we all know, and literally is Bella Baxter herself. Now, Willem Dafoe was also amazing. We love Willem Dafoe too. He’s grotesque but also such a warm and kind person, and like Bella, he’s really just kinda unaware of the concerning parts of situations. He doesn’t realize the abuse he went through because of his father, so his unawareness that ironing your ballsack is NOT okay is really fucking funny. His character represents the classic mad scientist, but with Lanthimos adding a realistic twist and giving Bella and Godwin a father-daughter dynamic that’s touching but also twisted—he genuinely loves her, but his role in her rebirth also raises questions about the control and possession he has over her, and like society, not allowing her to be free. Mark Ruffalo is also another goat. He’s the funny part of this movie. He’s over the top in everything and a fucking downright asshole. For me, he really represents that tight-asshole part of our society that saw this movie and said, "Boo, sex bad, way too weird, boo." Like all men in Bella’s life, he tries to control her and fails, and for some reason, in some way, he went absolutely mad. Idk, I didn’t get that. Now again, this is a Yorgos Lanthimos movie, so it’s packed with meaningful symbolism, and a lot of it revolves around Bella’s body and autonomy. Her literal rebirth is a symbol of her reclaiming control over herself—she’s brought back to life, but in a way that lets her shape her own destiny, free from the constraints that defined her before. Bella Baxter gets to be the woman she/her mom never got to be. And the sex in here isn’t meaningless, but it’s a representation of power and freedom because sex is always so fucking controversial for some reason, and people get so mad for exploring it. Lanthimos did an "in your face suckas" and showed you someone exploring who they are and finding out what they want. So if you guys hate this movie because of sex, shut the fuck up. I bet y’all would have an aneurysm if you watched Nymphomaniac 1 and 2 director’s cut (I almost did too). Overall, Poor Things is a wild yet brilliant mix of humor, chaos, and human reflection. Bella's journey is about freedom and autonomy, with Emma Stone shining as a fearless lead. The film’s surreal sets and costumes make it a visual masterpiece, while its whimsical tone keeps you immersed in its unpredictable world.