Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Poor Things 

This film is freaking wild in the best sense of that word! When I heard Yorgos Lanthimos was going to be working once again with Emma Stone I was so excited as they crafted such a great film with the Favourite back in 2018. Now seeing them come back for Poor Things this truly something that people need to run out and go see not only does Emma Stone give a sensational performance but the sheer scope and visual component to the film is so damn gripping. From the first frame you are thrust into this very trippy, dark and yet also comedic like world that has a way of having you completely in awe of what is onscreen. Poor Things is a masterful film that soars on each aspect from the visuals to the story and the incredible performances this is a film that will stay with you long after the film is over its truly a unique adventure. 

Firstly, The narrative is in my opinion one of the most unique and original stories I have seen all year! Now I love Yorgos Lanthimos’s approach to storytelling because you cannot compare it to any other filmmaker his style is very singular which is amazing. When you see a clip of his films you know based off the camera movement the character interactions and the nature of the film that you are watching a Yorgos film he has created his own distinctive style which is incredible. Now his ability to showcase such out of the box thinking with films like the Lobster and the Favourite he loves moving into new genres with totally original narratives that never feel like repeats of his past works. With where he goes narratively with his latest work Poor Things its unlike anything he’s done so far. Many people will compare this film to Frankenstein in many ways due to the nature of how the film appears and in many ways I can understand that but if he did draw inspiration from that I can see it but the sheer lengths this film goes to is amazing. As he explores themes of death, science, and what it means to be human that is very much the heartbeat of the film in many ways. As his style for sure can be looked at as blunt, crude, sexually explicit which a lot of his films use those things in order to tell his story. Even when he uses for instance sexual content in this film it is used as a way of expressing the main characters’s way of finding herself and works well within the narrative of better understanding the characters journey. He has Emma Stone take centre stage and play this woman who has the mind of a child in an adults body and view the world in such a new sense that she wants to experience everything life has to offer. The way he brings that to the screen is to an extent touching and inspiring. Sure the film is wrapped up in this dark comedy like atmosphere but you knew that going in as he’s known for injecting darker elements into his story with dry humour which work here so well. The film at times also feels like a romance as the main character has many love interests and when we meet her the film is about her trying to go and see the world but the person who created her does not want her too. But with many of her interactions with others she finds herself always feeling pushed back from doing what she wants to do and is constantly told no and all she wants is a fun life where she can be happy. How it is shown is greatly done as it she will be introduced to someone who she sees as a breath of fresh air and a few days or a week go by and they end up just becoming someone else that makes her miserable or limits her that I thought was so well executed. Having this period piece film about living life filled with a dark landscape and deadpan humour wrapped in science and romance was beautifully written I think it may be Yorgos’s best written film yet due to how strong the story is and how incredible the characters he crafted are. The story is among one of the best of the year and is as of now the strongest narrative Lanthimos has put to screen. 

Secondly, The performances are astonishing! The one actor each person will be talking about after viewing this film is Emma Stone and her hurricane of a character that dominates each scene she is in. She commits to a role many actors would not have taken on but perfectly worked for her as she is able to tap into so many aspects of the role from comedic to dramatic and the sheer way she explores this poor woman’s heart over the course of the film was amazing and this is definitely among one of Emma Stone’s best performances she has ever given! Then you have Mark Ruffalo who gives a shockingly against type performance that is utter brilliance that I think is one of the best performances he has ever given with his work on this complicated man. He at first is so charming and lures you in with his great wit and adventurous spirit but we learn how broken he is overtime and Ruffalo brings that to the screen in both a hilarious but also heartbreaking way that you cannot look away from he is truly great in this film. Evreyone gave such strong performances even from Willem Dafoe who plays the father type scientist who is driven by furthering what the body can do and making medical advances for society. He isn’t onscreen much but is so explosively great when he is and each actor brings their absolute best to this film.

Lastly, Yorgos Lanthimos delivers an astonishing story about living life to the fullest through such a quirky and darkly comedic way of showcasing that through the lens of Poor Things. You will be swept up in the visuals and amazing music that brings you into this amazing world he has created and then follow along the characters that all have their own personal arcs they embark on you will become invested into with such strong performances from the entire cast and Emma Stone delivers a career best performance with her work in the film that will amaze you. Poor Things is dark, its funny, its emotional and its also inspiring it is able to be so many things at balance them all so well. Poor Things is one of the best films of the year and one of Yorgos’ strongest works he’s crafted as a filmmaker. I recommend everyone go see this film it is quite the ride but you will be so glad you went its a brilliant piece of film. 

This film chronicles the story of Belle Baxter who is brought back to life with the mindset of a child but the body of an adult and rediscovers the world for the first time and goes about wanting to experience life has to offer. 

Rated R : Gore|Disturbing Material|Graphic Nudity|Language|Strong Sexual Content

Emma Stone : Stone delivers a career defining performance with her role of Bella Baxter! Now I think Emma Stone is one of there best actors of her generation she has such an interesting body of work and always commits to whatever role she plays. She is so likeable and fun to watch onscreen now I am saying now what she shows with her work in Poor Things is her best work of her entire career as she goes places emotionally, comedically, dramatically we have never seen her go before. She even brings a psychically impressive aspect to her performance that also will have people strongly impressed with what she is doing onscreen. As I said earlier any other actor this wouldn’t have worked but only Emma Stone could do this role the way Yorgos wrote this character. As when we meet her she speaks in very few words that make sense and has to act as a child in the way she moves and communicates with others and it’s not approached from a comedic way when we first see her its due to her limited ability at being able to carry herself. The way Stone tackles that of the first twenty to thirty minutes is very impressive because she has to put her mind as if she as a child and look at things in very black and white ways and have behaviour that could be seemed shocking and or not appropriate while having a loving look on the world  but that’s how children act. If it wasn’t done right it could of come off as jokey or very out of sorts but because Emma Stone knew how to grasp the first half of what her character goes through in such a interesting way it works very well and sure their are moments of comedy but that’s not the main point of the her performance early on its to show a evolution of how this woman’s brain is evolving from a child like view to an adult at a rapid pace which within itself is so compelling. Like when she is mistreated and or talked down too if she’s confronted in a way that seems to much for her she will react in very strongly simplistic emotional ways that get her point across as she’s still learning how to properly express her feelings in moments of sadness and anger or frustration. So her ability to just dive deep into that early part of this childlike way of acting and speaking was honestly so striking to see Stone just go for it and it works so well. But as the film progresses her brain soaks up the environments she is in and through seeing others interact and how people speak to her she finds ways of communicating more clearly. As by the second act she very much is in a retaliation state where she wants to breakout of where she is at and see the world and experience anything and everything. As she has a moment where she tells her father if he won’t let her leave she will grow resentment towards him if he tries getting in her way of finding herself which I thought was such a powerfully perfect way of her evolving as a person and showing that she wants to be more then people think she is. So we see that when someone comes along with the same adventure like way of thinking like her she cannot help but be drawn to them because that is what she needs at that moment at her life to feed her soul to grow. So when we see her attracted to Mark Ruffalo’s character you can see its due to the way he seems fun from there outside looking in but as weeks go by and she sees that he is very much like her father who wants to know where she is constantly she grows to have ton of conflict with him. That second aspect of her arc is all about exploring herself sexually and emotionally as she has no concept of what sex is and discovering that aspect of pleasure is a big part of her understanding how her body works and appreciating her own beauty. So we see that wild side expressed in ways that I can only imagine would be so emotionally draining to work on from Emma Stone’s view of things as the role is so rich and complex but the sheer exhaustion and psychical demand it takes to go into is not easy and she fully embraces each way Bella needs in order to feel fulfilled. the comedic element crackles brilliantly through her performance without it feeling one note or too reliant on humour she is able to use the characters inability to understand things to bring the humour out in those moments in many times through dry humour or very blunt ways that will have you laughing. As she never tries to go for a joke to make the audience laugh the comedy comes out of the serious moments and the way she responds to someone in her unaware sense of having a filter results in great comes relief and she has such amazing timing at when to know when to go for a Joke and when to pull back and let the dramatic weight of the moment drive the scene. As when we roll into the third act of the film she knows who she is and she knows her worth and that she won’t let men control her actions and what she can and cannot do and theirs a power in that to her knowing that. So we see herself more educated she has friends, she is reading a ton in order to sharpen her brain while also knowing when a person is good for her or not and the men around her think they can just treat her any way they seem fit and she won’t stand for it. Stone is able to go through such a amazing arc when you see her in the first act to the final act of the film she is such a different person then when your first introduced to her and Stone’s ability to dig deep into her soul to find the right ways in how to properly play this character and wow is she truly amazing she throws every part of herself emotionally to make this character memorable and also entertaining to watch while respecting the writing of this great character that has been written. Stone can make you laugh with the comedic wit of her performance but she can also have your heart go out to her when she is sad or conflicted due to her being mistreated by the people around her. She explores so much of this woman in such a committed and outstanding way she delivers comedy, drama and psychically also goes for what the role demands of her and she is extraordinary. This is truly one of the best characters I have seen in a film all year and Is a career best for Emma Stone exploring each aspect of herself creatively in a performance that is phenomenal. 

Mark Ruffalo : Ruffalo gives a performance in this film that will surprise people! He has always played very likeable characters from Begin Again, The Kids Are Alright, the Hulk he usually plays very clean cut characters. Which is fine there is nothing wrong with that I actually think he is underrated because he gives outstanding works as an actor that I don’t think get enough attention then it should be getting. So when I heard his work in Poor Things will really open peoples eyes and shock them I was intrigued and after viewing the film I understand totally why people are praising his performance the way they are because his work in this film is so against type of what he usually does and its brilliant. He plays this womanizer with a charming personality that draws people in within moments of meeting him and Mark taps into that so effortlessly as when he comes onscreen he is a breath of fresh air for Bella that she needs at that moment in her life and he uses that free spirit energy to lure her to follow him on his adventures. When he uses sex and charm to win her over he is so impressed with himself as you can tell he uses this trick with many woman to get them to talk to him its not something he uses on just Bella you can tell he’s done this act before. Their is a devilish look in his eye from the moment we meet him that their is something shady in his eyes you can’t quite make out but theirs more to him then he is letting on and once Bella stays with him for longer then a few days his real layers start to shed. We see how self obsessed he really is and the lack of attention he gives Bella because when he has her he feels now no need to impress her anymore  because he feels she won’t leave him so he becomes overly confident and that cocky attitude destroys him. He constantly limits her in the ability to find herself and the more he does it the more she learns how controlling and negative he is for her. Mark makes that transition from being charming and cunning to somewhat sleazy and hate filled so smoothly as the film progresses we see he just wanted her for her sexual reason and to not be lonely because he can’t bare to be alone because he’s a terrible person. Ruffalo taps into that narcissistic nature and explores why this man is such a snake of a human being that gets off on controlling woman he’s an alcoholic and gambler who cares barley for the people around him and we’ve never seen Mark play such a dislikable person like this before and it was quite the sight to see. As when he tells Bella to do what he says he has such a darkness in his eyes and stern sound in his voice Ruffalo knew exactly what to bring to this character to really leave a impression on the audience and he does just that. He lets the things he loves crumble his life and by the end of the film he’s so much more smaller of a person who is someone you don’t wanna even look at compared to when we first saw him and he was larger then life. This character he plays likes to think he’s so slick in the way he walks through the world but Bella grounds him and proves he’s just another negative aspect in her life and the sheer amazing way Mark Ruffalo was able to deliver on the abusive controlling aspect of his character while also giving small bits of comedy was so perfect he balances that so greatly. He never makes him out to be some sort of joke that people laugh at but it’s timed perfectly so it suits the scene perfectly and never feels out of place. Mark is truly taking on a whole other animal we have never seen him show onscreen before and he can be terrifying at times with the utter abuse he hurls at Bella but then he can be desperate in his search for Bella’s validation and love even though he’s going about it in the worst possible way that he ends up pushing her away. Ruffalo delivers a performance that is nothing like we have seen from him before and he can reel you into a scene with just a look in his eye or the way he delivers a line with just passion in his heart he’s remarkable In one of his best onscreen performances of his entire career. 

Yorgos Lanthimos : Yorgos goes into creative territory we’ve never seen him explore before! Now his distinctive style that really makes him fun to watch is what caught my eye when I saw the Lobster many years ago. Since then I have kept up with his films as I think he’s one of the most unique new artists working today. What he achieves on his work with Poor Things is incredible as he explores what it’s like to enjoy the small moments in life through the lens of Bella Baxter. Now the film does have a dark canvas splashed with humour and what works with the styles he uses in this film is it compliments the narrative at hand. It never felt out of place to have this bleak aspect to the film since it is about the nature of being brought back from the dead seeing the world with a fresh pair of eyes. He can show the sinister aspect of the people around Bella and also the abnormal approach of science it took to bring her back but It never feels grim though. It can go into those darker elements without it feeling depressing which is not easy to pull off as the beauty and light aspect of the picture shines through in the dry humour that explodes out of the serious moments in the picture. It never feels like it’s going straight into the comedy and making jokes for the sake of lightening the scene but he executes the laughter in such a sharp way that never comprises the emotion of the scene. I have mentioned that a great deal because the only other director that balances the dark with humour is Scorsese very few directors can do that well. The film can be in your face blunt with its message of how to live a happy and free spirited life as Bella is a vessel for representing that message and its shown through each frame in such amazing visual beauty along with the great central performance given by Emma Stone. The film never uses vulgar imagery just for the sake of shock value but has a point for placing it into a scene. If the Lobster was a weird take on romance, the Favourite being about jealousy and competition then Poor Things is about the exploration of what makes us human. As tons of people are going to come out of this film thinking he used way to much strong sexual content and language and to that I would say if that’s what you take away from his vision then your not understanding the film he has set out to make. As the film takes a big swing at how men can box a woman in and make them feel small and try to control them for their own benefit that happens time and time again to the main character and it honestly was very refreshing to see someone tackle that and not be afraid to go places artistically many others wouldn’t. He also shows how one finds themselves sexually so yes their is a ton of sexual content but for a reason as Bella has no grasp on how to talk and or psychically express herself it takes her a while to figure out how to navigate that and I thought the theme of sex was presented in a very real way I haven’t seen depicted like this before. Then you have the whole pursuit of finding one self which is very much the heart of the film and In a way it is very inspiring as he shows how this woman just wants to live her best life despite the hurdles thrown her way. She does not want to feel like she has to impress anyone or fit in to any social norm she just wants to be herself and Yorgos brings all these themes amazingly well to the film that will move you. He juggles a ton in this film and it all lands so beautifully this film to me is his strongest in terms of characters and visually as the images in this film are so striking and gorgeous to look at. He really has topped himself since his last film and his direction and writing is amazing showing people why he is a filmmaker to constantly be watching as he makes art that is so fresh and unique his work on Poor Things is genius.