Poor Things

it’s been a couple of days since i’ve seen this, though i logged and rated it the day i saw it. i knew it was a five star movie and that i loved it, but there was so much content to sort through that i was frankly overwhelmed. i’ve walked away being in love with the world lanthimos portrays because it is through bella’s eyes, giving whimsy and wonder to an otherwise very scary world. but the other aspect of it is the insane world in which bella was raised was so normalized that the seemingly normal world of europe is looked at through a very fantastical lens. despite bella’s exploration of the world being something that could be viewed as anxiety inducing just wasn’t. i found myself very calm, just taking in the world with bella. the only exception being when she went with alfie and then i thought i was going to have a conniption.  beyond the world i found the discussions of identity and womanhood to be so profoundly touching and fascinating. i think the part of this film that makes it most interesting is not bella’s womanhood but the ways that men interact with her. specifically the pedophilic aspect of it all, as we are watching a child interact with the world in a way that is immediately adult bc she’s in an adult body. the men who desire her want her mature body but are charmed by her infantile way of speaking and inability to think for herself. when she “grows up” and gains autonomy through knowledge and ethics she becomes the devil. overall i was truly so moved by this. it was visually stunning, hilarious, and devastating all at the same time. the performances were exceptional and emma stone needs another oscar.