In the wake of Academy award nominations, the somewhat fantastical science fiction comedy Poor Things is garnering further attention, both sceptical and admiring. The outcry from many was that this was a film about a woman’s liberation told through the eyes of a man (which happens often) and on the other hand it was an inspiring look into a woman breaking free from society, filled comments on current and past depictions of society and its expectations.
Bella Baxter, a young woman, resurrected and implanted with the brain of her foetus, by the Dr Godwin, begins her life anew. As she gradually ages and wants to experience more, she runs off with a cad of a lawyer to Europe. Along her journey of self-discovery, sexual liberation, she learns of philosophy, and what it truly means to be independent.
Adapted from the novel by Alasdair Gray, of which is told from the perspective of the male characters, the film fully concentrates on Bella Baxter’s journey and her views of the world. We see Bella being able to break free from several constraints and that includes the male characters in the story who all seek to control her at some point. This could be a feminist story but not a universal one.
We see Bella breaking free from society and its expectations, but to gain much of this liberation, she had to join a brothel. It’s incredibly frustrating to continuously see this depiction of sexual liberation on screen. There has rarely been an alternative. A series of events happen for Bella to end up in this situation, but the key being, she ultimately chooses to stay working in the brothel. But at first, she is too naïve to understand what is happening as she is still, technically, young. This woman’s liberation is through sexual exploitation, firstly by the lawyer who brings her to Europe in the first place, and then by her first encounter at the brothel.
There is something satisfying about Bella being desired continuously along the way by all these men, wanting to control her, keep her locked away but she ends up outwitting them, or in fact taking control of them in various ways. BUT at the same time, that continuous mention of how beautiful Bella is, is also how she able to behave outrageously without consequence or severe punishment. Her ‘pretty privilege’ is not discussed at length as most are too focused on the sexual elements and male controlling women, but it is something to be noted.
The steampunk Victorian set period makes for a fantastical world where places and things are twisted to suit this director Yorgos Lanthimos’s film world. These are the most enjoyable elements about the films, aside from the comedic dialogue and the scenes with Mark Ruffalo as the cad lawyer, Duncan Wedderburn. But the story and Bella herself are at times, too hard to swallow and the choices made to depict a woman’s liberation feels too one note and are rather basic ideas