Poor Things (2023): Precious Childhoods

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I couldn’t wait to write this article. The newest Yorgos Lanthimos film, Poor Things (2023), starring Emma Stone hit theaters recently and it smashed ratings among critics and audiences. It received an IMDb score of 7.9/10, a Rotten Tomatoes score of 92%, and a Metacritic score of 88%. Emma Stone took home an Academy Award for her leading role as Bella Baxter, the film’s central character who is a reanimated corpse that slowly ages throughout the film. If you haven’t seen any of Yorgos’ films before such as The Lobster (2015), The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), and The Favourite (2018), just know that he is a director with an unorthodox and specific vision.

I was not an avid Yorgos fan myself until I binged three of his top grossing films in preparation for Poor Things (2023). Now let me tell you, after watching, I was thoroughly entertained and excited to show my friends his films. They are so uniquely his, as he creates stories from unique angles and sometimes uses absurd visionary tools that make it impossible to look away. Reading a short synopsis of any Yorgos plot will instantly hook any true cinema lover.

Among the four films that I have seen, I would have to say that Poor Things (2023) is his best creation yet. The premise is so intriguing, and every moment is vital to the story telling. Emma Stone’s character, Bella Baxter, is reanimated by Frankenstein’s monster, who is called Dr. Godwin Baxter (played by the incredible Willem Dafoe) in Yorgos' version of the macabre tale. I think Mary Shelley would be pleased with Yorgos’ rendition of her 1818 novel.

In the film, Godwin finds a pregnant woman who has cast herself from a bridge in a suicide attempt and takes her back to his lab, removes her unborn child from her womb, and replaces the mother’s brain with the child’s, giving life to Bella. Bella is somewhat both her own mother and her child simultaneously, yet “no memories remain” (Poor Things, 2023) and so she develops as any infant child would. She learns to walk, hold her urination, speak in complete sentences, and process impulse control.

The entire film draws a clear emotional connection to Bella, but also highlights key stages of child development. The entire duration of the film however, Bella is in the body of a fully grown woman which adds to the discomfort of certain scenes, especially with the villain (played by the talented Mark Ruffalo), Duncan Wedderburn.

Bella begins mentally as an infant and then emerges as a toddler with better motor skills and cognitive abilities, fathered by her reanimator, Godwin (who she charmingly calls God). It is fun to rewatch the film and guess Bella’s age based on her stage of development by looking at her set of skills and knowledge of the world.

She grows more independent and wishes to venture out of her prison-like home, using Ruffalo’s character as her means of escape. My guess is that she could not be older than eight when she decides this, as her language skills are still reduced to broken sentences and fractured logic. In my opinion, Wedderburn’s villain character reminds me of the victimization of young girls all over the world that are of child-bearing age but do not have autonomy over themselves and are easily groomed.

The subject of sex is heavily exposed in the film, but it does not feel erotic. It is communicated through the lens of human development, highlighting the social motives of some men against women. Bella takes control of her own sexuality when she becomes an adult, and this is symbolic of every woman that ever felt shamed for her sexual practices. Bella's narrative shows that some men, many of them characterized in the film, are examples of those who would take advantage of the naivety of a young woman and use it against her. Despite this, Bella quickly forges her own path, and the audience is cheering for Bella by the end. Even in her ignorance, she is utterly lovable.

You can’t help but root for her.

I wondered, after watching the film three times, if cognitive development was in fact heavily tied to sexual development. Is this a Freudian ideological angle that claims all humans must have a healthy introduction and processing stage for sexual experiences in order to become stable adults? Freud would likely say yes, but I think there are other factors that explain what it means to grow up.

For example, Bella and Wedderburn are sailing on a cruise-style ship where Bella learns that sex does dissipate in frequency over time, and other forms of cognitive stimulation replace sex. Psychology, philosophy, and science are the topics of introspective conversation among intellectuals. Bella quickly yearns to explore her mental needs more than her physical ones, which Wedderburn finds annoying and inconvenient for him.

Is this another narrative about men that wish to “keep” women for themselves instead of sharing them with the world?

Luckily, Bella doesn’t end up with the soggy excuse of a man (Wedderburn), but instead marries Max McCandles (played by the charming Ramy Youssef). Max is the opposite of Wedderburn and supports Bella’s thirst for knowledge and her need to resolve conflict on her own. I don’t think Max's character is limited to a feminist analogy to support the autonomy of women, but that he's also an example of how all spouses should behave. Perhaps not in the same dramatic way as the film depicts, but the soul of the objective moral rings true. Partners should allow the autonomy of the other instead of getting lost in the relationship and forming an identity solely based as a partner. Individuality must continue to shine through. And Max offers that individuality to Bella.

I think many people in society do this without realizing it; make their relationship their entire identity and build resentment over time. Even in partnerships, humans must maintain their own unique identities and values.

The film ends with Bella winning over the demons of her upbringing and realizing who she is apart from the woman whose body she possesses. She maintains throughout the film that she is Bella and not that woman who nearly drowned. She has her own memories, her own personal experiences and her own opinions that make her Bella. It’s a great message for not only young women, but all young adults who grow up in an atypical upbringing that are searching for themselves among their experiences. Sifting through them to find the door that leads to the knowledge of who they are.

Because that is truly a struggle for many youths. Who am I? What do I like? Do I do that thing or say those words because I saw someone else do it? Or is it really me? Who do I want to be? Do I like myself and who I am becoming?

If adults asked themselves that question, would the answers be overwhelmingly split between positive and negative responses? How often do adults even practice introspection? What is your answer?

After watching Poor Things (2023) I think I will make it a habit to make consistent internal value checks and be a little more confident about who I am, like Bella Baxter.