‘Poor Things’: Freedom, Chains and Societal Liberation
‘Poor Things’ does many good things. It is well-written, supremely acted and masterfully directed. But it is also a film with much nuance and intelligence despite its mildly unconventional style. Let’s investigate.
“You would confine yourself to three phrases: how marvellous, delighted, how do they make the pastries so crisp?” Duncan Wedderburn’s rules of conduct were plain and simple. A civilised woman should behave appropriately, speak politely and should never ever be anyone else’s burden. Bella Baxter, however, is not enslaved by societal norms. Bella Baxter is a free woman. Bella Baxter is the inspirational protagonist in Poor Things, and from her, many valuable lessons may be learned.
Yorgos Lanthimos’s masterpiece Poor Things (2023) entered the cultural zeitgeist last autumn. It is surreal a film like this even premiered. A high-budgeted, expertly written, star-studded creation should not exist. Yet here we are, eleven Oscar nominations and a well-deserved box-office return later, and the future of cinema looks a little less gloomy. Poor Things is a monumental achievement on multiple fronts, and trying to encapsulate all its magnificence in one essay would be foolish. Therefore…
