Poor Things

It has been anything but a boring movie year, but leave it to Yorgos Lanthimos to make sure audiences don’t forget 2023 any time soon.

Adapted from Alasdair Gray’s novel, Poor Things offers a celebration of the weird and wild, but also the simple things in life, particularly the magic of uncomplicated connections with those who love us for who we are.

Our guide through this odyssey that proves you can go home again — but you might not recognize the place — is Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), the latest creation of Frankenstein-esque Dr. Godwin “God” Baxter (Willem Dafoe). A fellow walking lab experiment with a chopped up face, the good doctor is a wonder to behold and hilarious in his no-fuss ways, which also include burping out undigested bubbles in his Victorian London home and combining animals in creative ways.

Further augmenting God’s poker-face mannerisms and Bella’s child-like lack of manners, the mesmerizing production design from Shona Heath and James Price, and the tone crafted by Lanthimos, screenwriter Tony McNamara (The Favourite), and a wholly game cast recall Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie; Delicatessen) on his steampunkiest days.

Cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s complementary visuals blend disorienting fisheye-lens shots with majestic vistas to add yet another layer of imaginative allure, while Jerskin Fendrix’s unsettling yet alluring score likewise keeps viewers alert and engaged.

Within these concerted technical efforts, Bella takes flight in a zany meditation on “seeing the world” with playboy Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo). Whether on land or sea, Bella’s awakening to society’s ways brings out the best in Stone, who’s tasked with some extreme verbal and physical assignments — including, yes, plentiful sex — and does them all extremely well.

Nearly matching her, Ruffalo excels at playing the ultimate cad to the extent that one senses this kind of unscrupulous philanderer role was always hiding within and it just took a cracked visionary like Lanthimos to bring it out of him.

The humor and wonder these talented performers and filmmakers elicit is a joy to behold, and though Lanthimos isn’t afraid to hit on some of life’s darker aspects, they nevertheless blend well within this finely crafted milieu. It all builds to one of the year’s most satisfying endings — and possibly one of the decade’s best as well.

Grade: A-minus. Rated R. Now playing at Carolina Cinemark, the Fine Arts Theatre, Grail Moviehouse, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Searchlight Pictures)