Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…
Best Films of 2023
#6. Poor Things
If you liked the themes in Barbie but felt the movie was missing graphic sex scenes and a chicken dog, have I got the film for you!
Director Yorgos Lanthimos’ Frankenstein-esque fairy tale stars Emma Stone as Bella Baxter, a suicide victim whose body has been reanimated with the brain of the fetus she was carrying. The film traces her development from toddlerhood through sexual awakening and intellectual enlightenment.
Poor Things is macabre and hilarious, at once a slapstick farce and a smart treatise on gender roles and power dynamics. Bella is a woman unburdened by societal expectations, eager to soak up new experiences and test the boundaries constructed by Victorian society.
That behavior proves maddening for the men in her life, particularly Duncan Wedderburn, a rakish lawyer played with hammy delight by Mark Ruffalo. Wedderburn sees Bella as a plaything but quickly finds himself hilariously outmatched and diminished.
At the other end of the spectrum is Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), Bella’s creator, who shields her from an unkind world before reluctantly accepting that she has the right to discover it for herself. The behavior of Wedderburn and Godwin is a metaphor for the ways men seek to control women, and it’s inspiring to see Bella quickly outgrow them.
Stone is sensational as Bella. It’s a wondrous physical performance, especially difficult because she has to embody the role at so many developmental stages. It’s also a gloriously witty role, requiring her to rattle off screenwriter Tony McNamara’s elaborate dialogue with deadpan dexterity. Her Bella Baxter already feels like a character who will be celebrated as one of the greats.
In addition to its great performances and quotable screenplay, Poor Things is a technical triumph. The production design, costumes, and makeup combine to make the film look like a fantastical picture book come to vivid life. The score, by first-time film composer Jerskin Fendrix, is discordant and unsettling before blossoming into moments of transcendence — not unlike Bella herself.
I’ve been hot and cold on Lanthimos’ previous films. Poor Things is by far the best movie of his I’ve seen, in large part because — unlike his typically cynical work — it is ultimately a hopeful film. I found myself tearing up at its conclusion, inspired by the audacious beauty of both the message and the execution.
Que eu pensava ser só meu
Infiltra-se um tal veneno
Que é a solidão e euJuntos não somos um todo
É sufocante o vazio
E eu já nem sei de que modo
Foi invadido p’lo frio
Agora já somos três
Mas esses não fazem um
Nem ao entrares tu me vês
Este quarto é de nenhum
Um coração que se partiu
Que está sem nada pra dar
É este quarto vazio, é este quarto vazio
Onde nem lá cabe o ar
Um coração que se partiu
Que está sem nada pra dar
É este quarto, é este quarto vazio
É este quarto vazio
Onde nem lá cabe o ar
Meet Me In Montauk 
I am clearly in the minority as to this one, but the NYU-esque directing style and musical score so annoyed me that it overshadowed the great acting performances, well-written screenplay and interesting story.
I adored this film; every choice felt like magic, completely unexpected and perfectly right.
The other film viewing experiences I liken it to was seeing Raising Arizona, Moulin Rouge and Eternal Sunshine for the first time. I don’t even yet have a handful of such experiences to equate to my 5+ decades on this planet.
Yet, perhaps inexplicably, I don’t have Poor Things sitting in the top spot this year, though it is in my top 5. I’ll be ruminating on that for a bit.
As you say, Stone’s performance is one for the ages, and I’d love for her to be recognized with the Oscar. Thankfully, Marc Maron’s recent conversation with Lily Gladstone was sublime, leaving me content to see her take home what would otherwise surely be Emma’s Oscar.
2023 truly was an extraordinary year for films.
we’ve yet to see this film. Another one to stream at some point