Poor Things (2023)

Yorgos Lanthimos has succeeded in creating a post-modern, extraordinary classic in his latest film adapted from Alasdair Gray’s book of the same name.

The film is set in Victorian-era Scotland. Or is it? With Lanthimos’s festival-like costumes, use of color, and Bosch-esque universe, we can’t be too sure. The concepts of cracked time and space, and the use of fish-eye lenses in most scenes, form the surreal skeleton of the film.

Godwin’s mansion as Dr. Frankenstein is designed in a cold, emotionless, and dystopian atmosphere. This time, not only characters with extraordinary and eccentric personalities but also creatures filled with medical abnormalities resulting from mad experiments inhabit the house. Bella, on the other hand, is a Frankenstein’s creation isolated in every aspect. Lanthimos’s storytelling style of minimalist and peculiar dialogues reaches its peak with Bella’s character, an adult with the mind of a baby, offering viewers an extraordinary and bizarre experience, sometimes with excited or calm and cold approaches. The emotionless and absurd dialogues, strange interactions with other characters in the film, and ironic events strengthen the film’s dark humor aspect while also questioning emptied concepts and reflecting on the other side of the coin.

Aside from its magnificent set design and cleverly crafted dialogues, the film enchants with its universe more than its technique. Especially, Emma Stone in the role of Bella and Willem Dafoe as Godwin deliver magnificent performances. (Let’s add here that they will collaborate in two different films currently in post-production by Lanthimos).

The film, of course, frequently uses symbolism and metaphors; some are as clear as the depictions of the Tower of Babel by Flemish painters, while others appeal only to the aware viewer.

Another notable feature of the film is its lavish set design with a budget of 70 million, coupled with the softening of the storytelling, making Lanthimos’s approach to Hollywood even closer after The Favourite. (While the budget of The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), produced by Element Pictures, was 2 million dollars, it increased sevenfold to 15 million dollars with The Favourite (2018), thanks to the involvement of Searchlight Pictures as the production company. Today, with Poor Things, Lanthimos has managed to increase his budget to 70 million dollars). As one of the most important figures in contemporary cinema, we hope he manages to remain “independent” without deviating from his unique style.

Watched it at: Film Festival Gent

by Nil Birinci