Poor Things – 2023 – Ireland, England, United States
The story of Frankenstein is eternal. Last month saw the release of both Lisa Frankenstein (a kitschy horror comedy) and Poor Things (also a comedy of sorts). Those two movies are totally different, and that says a lot about the adaptability of Frankenstein.
A mad scientist finds the body of a pregnant women who committed suicide. Although she is dead, her baby is alive, so he implants the baby’s brain in the woman’s body. The result is Bella, a woman who loves life and is often violent, hedonistic, and totally ignorant of social mores. She also loves sex to an extreme degree. Poor Things has a lot of sex in it.
Poor Things is quite funny when Bella’s immature attitudes, destructive impulses, and wanton sexuality cause a bunch of awkward situations. However, it explores some serious themes in a thoughtful way. By growing up outside of society, Bella is able to question social norms, and as her maturity and understanding grow over the course of the movie, she becomes a little wiser than the rest of us. Sexism is one of the many themes explored in Poor Things as the various men in Bella’s life (her mad scientist “father” and various lovers she has) try to control and imprison her.
Poor Things takes place in a fairy tale-like version of our world. The story moves around Europe in the early 1900s, but this version of Europe is full of anachronistic machinery and cartoonishly colorful scenery. The sets and costumes are incredibly ornate, and every frame is packed full of visual detail. The level of opulence borders on wackiness. Bella’s dresses are impractically billowing. Meanwhile, her father’s face is so badly scarred that he looks more like Frankenstein’s monster than Bella. Another notable character is a prostitute whose entire body is covered in tattoos.
Poor Things is funny, sometimes emotional, sometimes thought-provoking, and always a visual delight. The extremely sparse string music is very distinctive too. Actually, everything about this movie is pretty distinctive. I like the dogs with duck heads that wander around Bella’s home.
Why are there so many shots with fish-eye lenses? Why not?
Rating: 8/10 Shrunken Heads
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