POOR THINGS
IMDb Rating
350K+
IMDb Votes
93%
Rotten Tomatoes
$118M
Box Office
Synopsis & Review
Based on Alasdair Gray's 1992 novel, Poor Things follows Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman resurrected by the unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) after her suicide — reanimated with the brain of the infant she was carrying. As Bella's mind and body develop at a startling pace, she escapes her sheltered life with the caddish lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) on a journey across a surreal, steampunk-inflected version of Victorian Europe, discovering pleasure, philosophy, injustice, and independence entirely on her own terms.
Lanthimos and screenwriter Tony McNamara build a world that looks like nothing else in mainstream cinema — candy-colored skies, bulbous Victorian architecture, and a shifting aspect ratio that widens as Bella's understanding of the world expands. Stone's performance is the film's engine: she plays Bella's evolution from stiff-limbed infant-mind to fully self-possessed adult with total physical commitment and zero self-consciousness, which is precisely why it won her a second Academy Award. The film is unapologetically frank about sex and bodily autonomy, using Bella's uninhibited curiosity as a tool to expose the hypocrisy and control everyone around her tries to impose on her. It's grotesque, very funny, and often moving — a coming-of-age story wearing a mad scientist's coat.
Why Watch This Movie?
Emma Stone's Oscar-Winning Performance
Stone plays Bella across every stage of a compressed, accelerated development — infant, child, adolescent, adult — with total physical and emotional commitment. It won her the Academy Award for Best Actress, her second, and is widely considered one of the boldest lead performances of the decade.
A Completely Original Visual World
Production and costume design built an unclassifiable steampunk-Victorian fantasy from scratch — candy-colored skies, biomechanical creatures, and an aspect ratio that literally widens as Bella's world grows. It's one of the most distinctive-looking studio releases in years.
Won the Golden Lion at Venice
Before its awards-season Oscar run, Poor Things took the top prize at the Venice International Film Festival, followed by an eight-minute standing ovation. It went on to earn 11 Academy Award nominations, second only to Oppenheimer that year.
Cast & Crew
Director
Yorgos Lanthimos
Screenplay
Tony McNamara
Studio
Searchlight Pictures
Bella Baxter
Emma Stone
Duncan Wedderburn
Mark Ruffalo
Dr. Godwin Baxter
Willem Dafoe
Max McCandles
Ramy Youssef
Cinematography
Robbie Ryan
Original Score
Jerskin Fendrix
Official Trailer
© Searchlight Pictures / Element Pictures. Trailer embedded via YouTube.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Poor Things based on a book?
Yes. The film is adapted from Alasdair Gray's 1992 novel of the same name, itself a postmodern riff on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Screenwriter Tony McNamara, who previously collaborated with Lanthimos on The Favourite, restructured the novel's framing device into a more direct, linear journey following Bella.
Why does the film's aspect ratio and color change?
Lanthimos shot Bella's earliest scenes in black-and-white and a boxy, restrictive aspect ratio to mirror her limited understanding of the world, then shifted to full color and a wider frame as she leaves her sheltered home and her perspective expands. It's a visual device that tracks her psychological growth without a word of dialogue.
Is Poor Things appropriate for a general audience?
No — the film carries an R rating for strong and frequent sexual content, nudity, and mature themes, all handled as central to Bella's arc of self-discovery rather than incidental. It's a film made for adult audiences comfortable with explicit, unconventional storytelling, not a casual watch for younger or more sensitive viewers.
How many Oscars did Poor Things win?
Poor Things received 11 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won 4: Best Actress for Emma Stone, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. It was the second-most-nominated film of the year behind Oppenheimer.
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