Poor Things [DVD]

is a 2023 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Tony McNamara, based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray. A co-production between Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the film stars Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, and Jerrod Carmichael. Stone plays Bella Baxter, a young woman in Victorian London who has been brought back to life via a brain transplant.Principal photography took place in Hungary from August to December 2021. Poor Things premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2023, and won the Golden Lion there. The film received critical acclaim and was released theatrically in the U.S. on December 8, 2023, and in the U.K. and Ireland on January 12, 2024, by Searchlight Pictures. It grossed $117 million worldwide on a budget of $35 million, making it a box-office success.Poor Things was named one of the top ten films of 2023 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute and received various accolades, including four wins at the 96th Academy Awards, two at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, and five at the 77th British Academy Film Awards. Stone won Best Actress at each ceremony.

Strange film to watch the film quality is excellent plenty of lighting it's not a dark film where nobody switches a light on but remains in the dark all the time but there is always a light on in another room, no this film is nice and light.

Fab

Absolutely genius of a film. I don't have quite the words to give this film justice only it challenges many forms of predujice through the eyes of an innocentenquiring mind

Strange but interesting, not bad if you like fantasy

Really enjoyed this film

Coincidentally I read Alasdair Gray's novel 'Poor Things' some time before I was aware of a film being made of the same name. The novel is, like most of Gray's work, intricate, philosophical and quirky. The film's narrative does reflect the book in some ways but, alas, deviates quite considerably as well. I do not think the film is a patch on the book, which is far richer - not to mention the fact that we only see Archie McCandless' version of events (puzzlingly renamed Max) and not Bella's, the book's second part in which she refutes the fact that she's been operated on - a surprising and delightful twist.However, putting aside the comparison with the book, the film is superbly made: gorgeously designed, well-paced and with great actors. A fantasy world full of colour and outrageous imagery in which Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) roams to fill her new brain with knowledge and experience, starting off innocently and gaining strength and maturity along the way, unfazed by notions of propriety. Sexual desire is part of the journey and rather frankly dealt with, but without sleaziness - I do wonder at the furore the film has caused.Bella Baxter's journey is an interesting one. Her developing mind asks many questions. One of the strongest lines of thought is the notion that women are in many ways the victim of men, which is well put.Regarded on its own a splendidly made and entertaining film. But please do read the wonderful book as well.

Good film to switch off and let loose on your imagination.