Poor ThingsRyan F9.9· December 16, 2023FollowLanthimos at his Lanthimost So many thoughts to process on this one and I literally just walked out so buckle up for a lot of words I haven’t fully thought through. I recommend going in blind for the full experience. Don’t rob yourself by reading reviews like this one beforehand. SPOILERS. Poor Things is I think about consent. It’s a bizarre and fantastic journey into identity, individualism, bodily autonomy, expectations of women in society and society as a whole, and just how fucking creepy men can be. Every man in her vicinity is like a different slice of the worst male personality traits brought to life. Godwin is a controlling father figure who admits at least some attraction to his “daughter,” Max feels like a “nice guy” in the same way Bo Burnham is in Promising Young Woman, and even Jerrod Carmichael’s character, who isn’t outwardly interested in her sexually, gets joy from essentially mansplaining how the world works to her. If you’ve seen the movie I don’t have to explain why Duncan or her first husband are also terrible. I almost want to call Bella the antithesis of a manic pixie dream girl. Men are attracted to her “mystique” and “not-like-other-girls” demeanor, but it’s quite literally because at that point she is not a person and has no personality of her own. As she grows and forms her own identity and self-confidence to make her own decisions, men (primarily Duncan) lose interest in her. There are many, many explicit sex scenes with Emma Stone’s Bella. The male gaze is present at all times, both intentionally from how the men around Bella view her (often attracted to her early childlike behavior and easily controllable mind) and from the amount of nudity Yorgos Lanthimos chooses to show. The themes of repression, inhibition, and sexual identity would feel disingenuous if the film didn’t go full force and commit to the acts depicted, but I still wrestle with where the line is drawn between what’s necessary for a visceral and truthful depiction, and what goes just a little bit beyond that comes from having a male behind the camera and a male behind the book. At the same time, I’m a guy and don’t feel qualified to talk about the effects of male gaze, so ignore the previous paragraph if you want to. This is all from the same movie that has a chicken with a pig’s head. It’s very silly. It’s incredibly silly, and that makes it all the more extraordinary that Lanthimos managed to make me leave the theater thinking about everything I’ve talked about instead of the chicken with a pig’s head.CommentsSign in to react and join the conversation.Sign inGet the appSee all Ryan's reviews for Poor Things (2)First watch9.9December 16, 2023Rewatch 19.9February 3, 2024
