I honestly don’t where to begin with this film, not because it’s bad but it’s a very hard film to properly explain why I like it. I think the first that stood out me was the cinematography, each shot felt like I was looking at a late Victorian painting which was quite appropriate since it was the era it’s set in, but outside of gorgeous light framing giving each scene look and vibe, the camera direction was on point, especially the Stanley Kubrick style wide angle tracking shots plus the use of different camera lenses like fish-eyed and black and white, which was all used to great effect to show how the characters are feeling and the film-makers clearly made sure that every shot is wasted.
Personally speaking, I found the humour in Poor Things to be the right amount of strange with examples the scene where Belle (Emma Stone) and Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) get in a slap fight but instead of them resolving their difference through communication, she hops back and forth on his one-eyed trouser snake to make things much better. I could see how this could be off putting for some more sensitive viewers but not every film is going to appeal to everybody. I felt like the dialogue was funniest part with dry wit, overly verbose sentences and Bella Baxter’s freedom from societal pressures and social norms leads to most blunt and savage jokes through out the film.
The most unique part of the film to me wasn’t the peculiar avant-garde musical score by Jerskin Fendrix, or the retro futuristic set design of each city, island, boat and building through the film, no, instead I was drawn to the perspective and moral themes that Poor explores in a very blunt but clever fashion, much like Miss Baxter herself. She is established as being a woman who will be brutally honest with people despite social norms saying otherwise but she’s curious about different outlooks and philosophies on life, trying everything without regard of the consequences but by the end of the film, she stayed true to her principles and has learnt to be empathetic, be kind and to love, in her own strange way.
So in conclusion, this movie is most definitely an experience of a lifetime. Whether you would like it or not totally depends on your tolerance levels for surgical gore, nudity, volent language and characters just talking for more than five minutes. If any of these apply to you, this might not be for you, however if you like all of the above, I cannot recommend this film this film highly enough, it’ll stay with you for the rest of your life.
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