Poor Things (Blu-ray Review)
Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things took the festival crowd by storm before a wide release in December of 2023. The early notes were that it was another odd ride from Lanthimos and Emma Stone was going to be winning a lot of awards from her work. Pair that with some buzz from general audiences (taking over $100 million worldwide) and then 11 Academy Award nominations, it’s safe to say that the film has etched its way into modern film culture. But does that make Poor Things a good film? Find out by reading more, and make sure to click the cover art below to access an Amazon link to order your own copy of the film which will be for sale on 3/13/24!
Film 
From filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos and producer Emma Stone comes this incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.
As we learn early on, Bella is the creation so to speak of Dr. Baxter, who fished her out of the water. Replacing her brain with the brain of her unborn child, Bella must learn and grow in a short time. She evolves daily learning words, mannerisms, and much more over time. As we meet her, she is mastering toilet training and eating. When Dr. Baxter employs a young student Max (Ramy Youssef) to help observe Bella, he sees her as beautiful and as she continues to learn, he falls in love with her. When Dr. Baxter gives his blessing he also insists that the two stay with him so they can continue to research Bella’s development. As the papers are drawn up, the slick lawyer, Duncan Wedderburn, ends up becoming smitten with Bella as well. The two escape the good doctor’s house and flee to Lisbon, where they eat aphrodisiacs and engage in copious amounts of sex. Bella’s first liberation after all is a sexual one.
As Bella spends more time with Wedderburn, she becomes more wordly, but also disillusioned with the boozy lawyer. Seeing Bella’s waning interest, Wedderburn kidnaps her and they take a boat on a further journey. As the trip evolves, so does Bella. She begins to rationalize the ideas of freedom and equality and becomes shocked to learn that not everyone shares the same lifestyle she does, even if hers is in a weird world view. When Bella befriends Alfie (Jerrod Carmichael), she learns that she is strange in the grand scheme of life. But Alfie has his own issues and Bella soon becomes aware of those, all while trying to help the poor and journeying by boat to where she lands in Paris. To discuss more would certainly spoil the story for those who haven’t seen it.
Poor Things operates in the very odd world of it’s director, Yorgos Lanthimos and the screenwriter Tony McNamara. Bella, although not all there is a very strong woman. To have two men write her as such a sexually free, hungry to learn individual is refreshing. Where most people would use a sex scene for a tantalizing moment, Lanthimos uses it to show Bella’s awakening in a humane way. It’s of course funny, and definitely bizarre, but Bella becomes more human and more alive as she sleeps with Wedderburn, and he shows her the world in a different way that seems to refresh her and help her further growth for the better. Of course, her brain is young, and she makes silly decisions that become her downfall in places. Wedderburn of course is more or less a letch, and those that Bella meets on her trip around the world are of varying quality too.
For me personally, Poor Things is a bizarre exercise in mainstream avant garde. The film has funny moments, confusing pieces, and a musical score that is engaging and at the same time grating. Visually there are moments of stunning beauty and story wise, it’s bonkers as many other reviews have said. Emma Stone, also one of the film’s producers, is the only actress that could’ve inhabited Bella’s character. As she goes from baby brained woman to a woman of the world, Stone is remarkable. Willem Dafoe brings his signature brand of oddity to the role as well, and through all the makeup and body suit, he is one of those that you simply can’t deny is a fantastic actor. Mark Ruffalo rounding out the main characters cast has the thankless task of making a character as unlikable as his one that you can laugh at and somehow care for at the same time. Odd as it is, Poor Things is a film that is bizarre yet can’t be denied. It’s worth a watch for those who like strange films, and for those of more mainstream tastes, it’s fair to say it’s not one I would go into blindly. Do your research!
Video
NOTE: Stills are provided for promotional use only and are not from the 4K Blu-ray
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
HDR: N/A
Layers: BD-50
Clarity/Detail: Poor Things was filmed on 35mm film and then given a 4K DI. The image on Blu-ray is sharp and quite fetching. The overall look of the film, except for the beginning which is in black and white is a wide array of colors, natural and otherwise. The film is not soft and the image is nice and clear throughout.
Depth: The images in the film are almost dream like. The looks of everything in the film are natural and wonderful, with background and foreground information looking nice and sharp even in an HD resolution.
Color Reproduction: When color hits the film, it’s a gorgeous looking mixture of natural colors and dreamier tones. I especially liked the sequence on the boat which looks beautiful with skies that I can’t even begin to describe. Really nice representation of colors in all ways.
Flesh Tones: Flesh Tones can be of the normal, everyday variety or occasionally venture into more artificial (by artistic choice). Nothing looks out of place in this very different film.
Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Discriptive Audio, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Castilian Spanish 5.1 DTS, Spanish (Latin American) 5.1 Dolby Digital, German Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Spanish Castilian, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norsk, Swedish
Dynamics: The 5.1 mix of Poor Things is rich and full bodied. The overall sound design is dialogue forward but music and ambiance is in abundance in the surround channels and LFE.
Height: N/A
Low-Frequency Extension: The musical score is the main draw for bass response. The odd instrumentation will vibrate the sound space and is interesting.
Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds carry ambience of indoor and outdoor spaces.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue of all kinds is crystal clear.
Extras
Extras for Poor Things are smallish, but not without reward… A slipcover of varying textures comes with this release along with a digital code. Something tells me a more deluxe edition will arrive sometime soon.
Possessing Beauty: The Making Of Poor Things (HD, 21:12): A short but informative mini-doc about the making of this movie that is quoted within as being a movie that should not have been made. This could’ve been extended and been something even more fascinating and informative.
Deleted Things (HD): Three short items cut for time.
Summary
Openly strange, weird, and somehow still affecting, Poor Things is not for everyone. Much like my viewing of past films by Yorgos Lanthimos, this is not a film I can see myself revisiting many times over. But, for it’s style, a sensational performance from Emma Stone and for being so different in a time where films are very much made for mainstream consumption, there’s a reason Poor Things stands out. The film will find ways to make you laugh, to repulse you, and to make you think. In that respect, the film is actually some grand entertainment if you can handle the oddity.
