One of the most entertaining films in competition at the 80th Venice Film Festival was Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things. The full house audience at Sala Grande Venezia was all smiles, punctuating the screening with long periods of applause.

The 141-minute black romantic comedy and science fiction fantasy competing for the Golden Lion has made Emma Stone one of the hottest actresses today. She plays an experimental Victorian lady resurrected by a mad scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter, played by the magnificent Willem Dafoe. 

The early experiments of Dr. Baxter was successful, in which he interchanged chickens with bulldogs, among others, to explore outcomes. Bella is the result of this long process as she is literally taking baby steps, learning her more and more about her surroundings upon the guidance of “God” (Dafoe). 

Bella’s brain came from a baby but her body belongs to a beautiful young woman who experienced a tragic past. Dr. Baxter considers his surgical creation like his own daughter.

A very patient “father,’ he even proposes to his researcher, Max (Ramy Youssef), to win Bella’s heart but our Frankenstein-like protagonist has other plans. 

Bella’s character is absurd, innocent, and boasting a mammoth sexual appetite. It is a film of self-discovery and there is no turning back for our heroine as she gains independence. 

The only way to accomplish her dream is to be with hotshot lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) who promises to show her the world, bringing her to Portugal, Egypt, and France.

Bella’s eyes are opened to the impolite “polite” society. In everything she does, she is fearless and shameless. 

In her portrayal of Bella, Emma has shown her true worth as a daring actress, her character frolicking with men of all ages just to satisfy her sexual desires. After her intimate encounter with Duncan, she questions him, “Why do people not do this all the time?”

She meets a pimp who gives her a job catering all day and night to satisfy her lust. The delighted pimp mentions Bella as, “A woman plotting her course to freedom.”  

But what happens to lover boy, Duncan? He cannot accept Bella’s independence and joyous outlook in life. Depressed, his life is turned upside down.

Our Bella fights for her adventurous spirit at a time when women were a slave to the dictates of society. She makes choices on her own, a real winner no matter how strange and unconventional her actions are. For her, “There is a world to enjoy, circumnavigate.” In hindsight, her actions tell everyone, “Screw you all!”

The Greek director Yorgos has an uncanny way of visualizing Alasdair Gray’s novel. He is an exciting filmmaker, having won four awards at the Cannes Film Festival with his earlier works like Dogtooth and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. There is mischief in his scenes. Many consider his direction brilliant. He belongs to the postmodern film movement known as the Greek Weird Wave.

Kudos also to the supporting performances by actors Mark, Ramy, and Willem. Without these men, we wouldn’t have experienced Bella’s story on women empowerment.

Poor Things was rated “R” abroad for its “strong and pervasive sexual content, graphic nudity, disturbing material, gore, and language.”

After its world premiere in Venice, Poor Things will be released on Dec. 8 in the US, Jan. 12, 2024 in the UK and Ireland, and Jan. 18, 2024 in Australia.

Let us just hope that when it reaches our shores, our classification board would be open to this monster tale dazzlingly portrayed by Emma Stone.