From the bold, bizarre & brilliant filmmaker behind The Killing of a Sacred Deer & The Favourite comes yet another delightfully weird & wondrously wicked film with a whacky premise that may as well be his most accessible & entertaining work to date. Intriguing from the get-go, quirky to the bone, eccentric in its design & decoration and also powered by an astounding performance from Emma Stone, Poor Things is one of the best cinematic offerings of 2023.
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth, Alps & The Lobster), the story follows the coming-of-age journey of a woman reborn with a liberated mindset free from societal pressure and covers her fantastical evolution with unabashed idiosyncrasy. Lanthimos retains all the quirky flavours & outlandish tone that his films are known for but he allows the themes he wishes to address to be articulated in a clear, concise fashion though the rich odyssey of the vibrant protagonist.
Also adding to the picture's uniqueness is the oddly fascinating production design, striking use of colours, neat application of fisheye lens photography & bewildering score. However, the real standout is Emma Stone's tour-de-force act that exhibits such unerring control in physicality & emotional expression that it makes her character transformation utterly convincing. And she is brilliantly supported by Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe & Ramy Youssef, who all chip in with strong inputs of their own.
Overall, Poor Things is an ambitious, imaginative & exhilarating comedy-fantasy that finds both its madcap director & talented lead at the apex of their craft and makes for an impressive entry in the duo's respective careers. An outrageously amusing tale about control, power, sexuality & female empowerment that's entirely dependent on its central performance, Lanthimos' latest is an absolute banger that's without doubt his finest directorial effort so far and effortlessly ranks amongst the best all-round films of its year.
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth, Alps & The Lobster), the story follows the coming-of-age journey of a woman reborn with a liberated mindset free from societal pressure and covers her fantastical evolution with unabashed idiosyncrasy. Lanthimos retains all the quirky flavours & outlandish tone that his films are known for but he allows the themes he wishes to address to be articulated in a clear, concise fashion though the rich odyssey of the vibrant protagonist.
Also adding to the picture's uniqueness is the oddly fascinating production design, striking use of colours, neat application of fisheye lens photography & bewildering score. However, the real standout is Emma Stone's tour-de-force act that exhibits such unerring control in physicality & emotional expression that it makes her character transformation utterly convincing. And she is brilliantly supported by Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe & Ramy Youssef, who all chip in with strong inputs of their own.
Overall, Poor Things is an ambitious, imaginative & exhilarating comedy-fantasy that finds both its madcap director & talented lead at the apex of their craft and makes for an impressive entry in the duo's respective careers. An outrageously amusing tale about control, power, sexuality & female empowerment that's entirely dependent on its central performance, Lanthimos' latest is an absolute banger that's without doubt his finest directorial effort so far and effortlessly ranks amongst the best all-round films of its year.