Poor Things (2023)

[Laurie4H]

Has anyone watched this?  It’s getting great reviews but several people I know who have watched it said it’s terrible and some said it’s pornographic.  When I was at the movie theatre yesterday the posters for it were huge.  Twice as large as any other movie advertisement.  This paired with the universal praise makes me think this is a huge campaign for an Oscar win.  And of course Emma Stone winning best actress because of she’s “fearless”.  

[nilyank]

It was weird with a lot gratuitous sex where the film tries to pretend it is vital to the story but I just found tiresome after the third sex scene.

It was okay but not Oscar worthy or even worthy of an Oscar nomination except maybe for costume design.

[snickers]

Ok I have to respectfully disagree with the post above.

I went to see this movie yesterday - I went solo because 1. I wanted to see if the hype was worth it and 2. I didn’t want to go with my mom or friends if this really was bordering on pornographic

Well- I was expecting this to be weird (it’s Yorgos L) it was hands down one of the best films of 2023

it is soooo Oscar worthy and I think it’s going to win big….emma stone deserves an award sweep for this and I personally didn’t think she deserved that Oscar for la la land, but for this, she totally does.

it has a great feminist message so this movie for me was better than Barbie in the messaging though it was an adult message 

as for the sex scenes- I’m totally not getting all the backlash 🤷🏽‍♀️ it was no worse than some of those trash shows on Netflix, these people saying it should have been nc17 I don’t think really watch the shows they claim to review otherwise they wouldn’t be saying this

granted the movie is not for everyone, especially if one is not a fan if the directors work, but if one appreciates a different kind of film I think one will really love it

i give Emma stone credit you see ALL of her and when I did some further research it looks like they filmed it not long after she had her baby 😳

But yeah, if anyone is on the fence, go see it! People seem to be falling into the love or hate category. 

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by snickers

[rmontro]

Haven't seen this, but I thought the premise looked interesting.  But I also saw it's from the guy who directed The Lobster, and that was another movie that I thought looked like it had an interesting premise, but it was utter garbage.

Of course, that doesn't mean this movie is also, but it dampens my enthusiasm quite a bit.

[AngieBee1]

On 12/26/2023 at 9:24 AM, nilyank said:

It was okay but not Oscar worthy or even worthy of an Oscar nomination except maybe for costume design.

The costume design was exquisite. Now I am really kicking myself for not going to the brief exhibit they had of the costumes in L.A a month or so ago.

It's not my favourite Yorgos Lanthimos film but it is quite enjoyable. I think Emma and Mark Ruffalo were fantastic. Loved Ramy Youssef in this. It was a joy. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 12/30/2023 at 8:13 PM, snickers said:

But yeah, if anyone is on the fence, go see it! People seem to be falling into the love or hate category.

I was on the fence, and read this and decided to see it.  I didn't love it. 

I just went back to see which of his previous movies I'd seen, and it was only The Lobster and The Favourite.  I'd avoided his others because of subject matter.

I liked The Favourite very much, and The Lobster not so much.  I'd put Poor Things between those two.  The Lobster was too weird for my taste, and Poor Things never quite grabbed me as much as I thought it should, but at least I more or less understood it.  I'm definitely not unhappy that I spent the time and money to see it.

Actually, all of that was worth it just for the blue dress she was wearing in the opening scene on the bridge.  God that thing was beautiful, and the big screen in the theater showed every detail. 

I'm a little disappointed that the trailer made me think she really was going to punch the baby, but she didn't.  She acted on pretty much every other impulse, but not that one.  Bummer.

[luna1122again]

This was  my fave Yorgos Lanthimos film. I'm a fan of his imagination and creativity but I rarely ENJOY his films. They're off putting and weird and I've never recovered from the scene with the dog in The Lobster. 

But this one is fun, and gorgeous. I don't get the whole 'pornographic' label some are slapping on it; the sex scenes are not really that explicit and they're played, mostly,  for comedy. 

And Emma is definitely worthy of a nomination and perhaps the win. It really IS a fearless performance. 

[Browncoat]

"Furious jumping."

I *finally* got to see this last night.  Only when it started getting so much awards buzz did it finally arrive in my semi-rural neck of the woods.  I thought it was well worth the wait! 

It was both horrifying and hilarious -- sometimes at the same time.

The full frontal nudity surprised me a bit.  It's quite uncommon, especially full frontal male nudity.  But the sex scenes served a purpose.  Bella was, quite literally, discovering herself and discovering pleasure.  Until she got bored with it as a sex worker.

I am torn about the ending, though.

It was satisfying for the goat brain to be put in the general's head, but part of me wanted them to move Baxter's brain over so he wouldn't die.

Overall, I loved it.  But then I really liked The Lobster, too.

[Laurie4H]

I was prepared to hate this but I didn’t.  Can’t say I agree with the women empowerment implied (I almost felt bad for Mark Ruffalos character) and there were some scenes I could have done without but I overall it kept my interest and the acting was good.  

[tennisgurl]

I was really disappointed when I missed this in theaters so I was thrilled when this came to Hulu. Yorgos Lanthimos is very hit or miss for me, which is probably on purpose, but I have to say that this is probably my favorite of his films. Even his movies that I have liked I haven't really liked, they're deliberately off-putting, awkward, and gross, and while this certainly has a lot of that, it was also a lot more...fun? It was super weird and gross at times but the costumes, the trippy steampunk world, the gorgeous clouds, and Emma Stones go for broke performance, made this one of his more weirdly approachable movies, which probably says a lot about Lanthimos movies, a guy who can make what seems on paper like a typical based on true events period piece into some kind of bizarre gross out horror comedy. 

Like I said, I adored the look of this movie, a weird steampunk Victorian gothic horror world with tons of color and where mad science is apparently just something people can do sometimes. The whole cast was great, it was fun seeing Mark Ruffalo in this sort of role and Emma Stone absolutely deserves that Oscar nomination and it would be fun to see her get a win. 

The feminist message was great and I like how the theme seemed to be that women, just like men, need to experience as much of life as they can to be a complete person. 

Edited March 10 by tennisgurl

[Mindthinkr]

I finally got to watch this and enjoyed it. I can see why it got a lot of Golden Globe awards as the Foreign Press is probably more understanding about the nudity and sexual nature of Bella’s character than American audiences and Oscar voters. 
   

[Shannon L.]

On 3/7/2024 at 9:51 AM, Laurie4H said:

I was prepared to hate this but I didn’t.  Can’t say I agree with the women empowerment implied (I almost felt bad for Mark Ruffalos character) and there were some scenes I could have done without but I overall it kept my interest and the acting was good.  

This is exactly how I felt about it.  I can appreciate the set design and costumes, hair and make up and cinematography, but it was a bit too stylized and avante guarde for my taste.  Emma Stone was mesmerizing, though. 

Edited March 9 by Shannon L.

[SlovakPrincess]

Emma Stone's commitment to this role and her performance really sold this.  She was excellent!  The look of the movie was over the top but very artistic, and the costumes were delightful.  

I was not bothered by the explicit sex, but I did think it was really overdone at a certain point.  There was so much focus on that that it made it seem like that was the most important part of her education and growth as a person.  I could have done with more of her with Harry the cynic and Martha -- the scene where she learns about the horror of poverty in the world was powerful, and I wished there was more of that.  

The stuff with the general was just kind of tedious and the movie could have been shorter.    

[thuganomics85]

Glad it won a bunch of Oscars for its costume, make-up, and production design, and I'm especially glad Emma Stone got her second Oscar for this.  I'm sure most will always bring up the explicit sex/nudity she did in this film, but I think it really was just a great performance all around from her and more than deserving of the win.  She really is one of my favorite actresses of all time.

While I was glad Christopher Nolan finally got a director win, I do hope Yorgos Lanthimos time comes somewhere down the line.  Between this and The Favourite, he is quickly becoming one of my favorites.  The man isn't afraid to just go nuts with things and I respect that.  Keep shining on, you crazy man!

Film was definitely a standout of 2023.  If nothing else, I will always be impressed that they discovered the only thing more disturbing than a scarred Willem Dafoe as Dr. Frankenstein is Mark Ruffalo sliming it up with an equally slimy stache.

[Madding crowd]

Finally got to see this on Hulu. Thought I would hate it at first but then realized the black and white and odd things were the way a baby or toddler would see them and as she became more educated, she saw things as more like they really were. I thought the prostitution scenes went on too long but overall I liked it and Emma was great.

[Spartan Girl]

So I finally watched it. And…it was not my cup of tea.

Don’t get me wrong, Emma Stone was fantastic. This Oscar she definitely earned.

But sometimes I couldn’t help feeling like I was watching the dreadful Blonde all over again. I’m not adverse to sex scenes in general, but knowing that Bella was essentially a child in a grown woman’s body  made all the times we see her naked or “furious jumping” feel…icky. And did there need to be that many sex scenes?! We get the point already!!

I’m probably the only one that didn’t like all the dresses she wore (except maybe the one she wore at the hotel restaurant when she started dancing to the music at random, that was nice). I know it was supposed to be a gothic Victorian steampunk kind of style, but yeesh those poofy sleeves! They could at least made her wedding dress more flattering.