Spoilers are calling child services.

I’ll be honest, after watching the trailer and knowing the basic premise, I was apprehensive about watching this film. The idea of a fish-out-of-water character in a world where manner and social etiquette are imperative to thrive has been used as a comedy setting before. What I wasn’t expecting is how endearing both the protagonist and the environment she perceives would become. This isn’t going to be all roses and rainbows, though. The family crowd might want to abstain.

(Credit: Searchlight Pictures)

Poor Things (2023) is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Tony McNamara and Alasdair Gray. When we’re introduced to Bella (Emma Stone), she’s the living experiment of Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) who entrusts her to his apprentice, Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) to track her progress. Bella has been brought back from the dead, but it seems she’s regressed to early childhood mentally. Extremely curious and completely uninhibited, Bella has no sense of restraint or modesty but a strong desire to learn. Their dynamic is interrupted when unscrupulous lawyer and philanderer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), learns of her existence and takes her on a trip.

To say that Emma Stone’s performance of Bella steals the complete film would be underselling it. At the start, we’re concerned the world is going to eat her alive the moment she manages to break out of Dr. Baxter’s house. Unlike other feature films, the outsider character is never ridiculed. She’s absorbing the world like a sponge and already grasping grown up concepts as well as adult hypocrisy. This becomes blatantly obvious when Bella discovers her sexuality. This breaks more than a few movie taboos by tackling the subject straight on without any subtleties. This means the film will not shy away from full frontal nudity both male and female.

In a way this is both a coming-out-of-age story and a hero’s journey altogether. Bella’s not threatened with the world. The moment that Duncan takes her on a trip, we can tell we’ve completely shifted to Bella’s point of view. The city of Lisbon, Portugal becomes a fairy tale in full color in her eyes. The dangers become joys and Duncan soon finds himself out of his depth. Bella is starting to read, learn and open her mind while keeping her unrestrained behavior by choice.

It works. The strength is in its main character as well as a strong supporting cast. Emma Stone pretty much carries the movie in an almost effortless fashion. The filmography is downright artistic. The storytelling is solid for the most part. The last act does decide to introduce a caricaturesque antagonist and last-minute arc that felt unnecessary. I guess the filmmakers/studio thought a victory was needed to set up the finale, but it felt tacked on.

Strongly recommended. The central point of the film is its strongest point, which is Emma Stone’s portrayal of the whimsical Bella. The film is not scared to show some of the ugly parts of growing up from a freshly unrestrained perspective. She might sometimes come across as crude, but never evil. Sexuality is portrayed openly which will offend the easily offended, so family and casual crowds will have to abstain. Very much worth a watch.

That will do for now.